​A York dentist must work under supervision whilst the General Dental Council (GDC) investigate 'serious and wide-ranging concerns' about her and her practice, following claims made by a whistleblower.

However, The York Press has reported that the dentist in question, Jenefar Kabir, has rejected the allegations against her, describing them as 'vindictive'.

The claims made by the whistleblower include the use of rusted and blunt burrs at the dentist’s private practice, Fresh Dental Smile Clinic & Implant Center, along with poor disinfection and infection control procedures, and that she told her staff not to give patients comprehensive treatment plans.

The publication also notes that the GDC “has also received an allegation that Kabir took over a dental extraction from another dental practitioner and when that practitioner urged her not to use a high speed drill, according to the practitioner, her response was ‘using the high-speed tool increases patient’s immunity’ and that surgical emphysema was not worth worrying about and that to get to her position she had to ‘take some risks’”.

The GDC has yet to decide whether any of the claims reported to it are true.

The news report also highlights that the Care Quality Commission (CQC) is considering enforcement action against the practice after its inspectors concluded it was ‘not providing safe care’.

The publication says “it has required the practice, of which Kabir is the clinical director, to carry out changes to some of its procedures.

“Through her lawyer, Mr Reddington, Kabir told a GDC committee the allegations made to the GDC ‘were taken out of context and were vindictive’.

“Her lawyer told the committee that the CQC had not yet made any findings and there was no evidence that the CQC had identified any issue in respect of Kabir’s own clinical actions. She disputed the need for any restrictions on her.”

Despite this, the GDC committee imposed a raft of restrictions on her including day to day supervision.

The committee told Kabir, “These are serious and wide-ranging concerns which engage core aspects of dentistry, such as cross-infection control. In the committee’s judgment the concerns give rise to a real risk of harm to patient safety should you be allowed to continue practising without any interim restriction on your registration whilst the concerns are investigated.”

Meanwhile, in an interim report the CQC said, “We found this practice was not providing safe care in accordance with the relevant regulations.

“We have told the provider to take action. We will be following up on our concerns to ensure they have been put right by the provider. We are considering enforcement action in relation to the regulatory breaches identified. We will report further when any enforcement action is concluded.”

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