The Iowa Dental Board recently sanctioned several Iowa dentists who have previously been accused of professional incompetence, fraud, and sexual misconduct involving a patient.
One of the cases involves Justin Hillock, a former Iowa dentist who in 2018 was acquitted of criminal charges of sexual abuse, and who was previously sanctioned for having sex with a patient. Hillock is seeking to have his Iowa dentist’s license reinstated.
Board records show that in 2009, while practicing dentistry in Coon Rapids, IA, Hillock was charged by the board with making advances or suggestive, lewd, lascivious, or improper remarks to several patients and co-workers and with having sexual contact with a patient.
The board agreed to let Hillock continue practicing while the disciplinary charges were pending on the condition that a chaperone be present when Hillock treated female patients. One month later, the board placed Hillock’s license on probation.
In 2013, with Hillock’s license still on probation, the licensing board agreed to modify the terms of the probation to remove the requirement that he have his female patients complete a board-approved patient satisfaction survey.
In 2017, with his license on probation, Hillock was, according to the board, working at Guthrie Center Family Dentistry when he was criminally charged with third-degree sexual abuse and indecent contact with a child. At the time, Hillock agreed to halt his practice of dentistry, with his license being placed on “suspended” status.
While there is no longer any public court record of the criminal case at Iowa Courts Online, news reports from the time indicate Hillock was eventually acquitted of the charges. Police alleged Hillock sexually assaulted a 13-year-old child between September 2015 and February 2016.
In March of this year, Hillock applied for reinstatement of his suspended dentist’s license. At the same time, his attorneys in the criminal case sued Hillock for nonpayment of attorney fees, eventually winning summary judgment.
In July, the Iowa Dental Board issued a preliminary notice indicating its intent to deny Hillock’s application for reinstatement of his license.
In August, Hillock appealed that decision, and last month the board agreed to schedule a hearing on the matter on November 6, 2025.
Other dentists recently sanctioned by the Iowa Dental Board include:
Paymum Bayati, who last December applied for reinstatement of his suspended license. In July, the Iowa Dental Board issued a preliminary notice indicating its intent to deny Bayati’s application. Bayati appealed that decision, and last month, the board agreed to hold a hearing on the matter on November 6, 2025.
In 2022, the Iowa Dental Board entered into a settlement agreement with Bayati, who agreed to have his license restricted in a manner that prohibited him from providing dental implants for patients. The board had charged Bayati with failing to maintain a reasonably satisfactory standard of competency with regard to implants while practicing dentistry in Waterloo, IA.
In 2023, the board charged Bayati with practicing dentistry in a manner that was harmful or detrimental to the public and with violating regulations related to the practice of dentistry. The board alleged Bayati posed an “imminent threat” to the public and suspended his license on an emergency basis.
In April 2024, Bayati surrendered his license and was tried and convicted of the misdemeanor offense of public intoxication for his actions in connection with the 2024 disciplinary case.
Police records show that on December 7, 2023, an Anamosa, IA, police officer was dispatched to the Anamosa State Penitentiary in reference to an impaired person who was trying to drive away from the prison. The officer reported arriving at the prison and meeting with the warden, the deputy warden, and Bayati, who was the prison dentist at that time.
The police officer reported that Bayati appeared intoxicated and “smelled heavily” of alcohol. Bayati then submitted to a test that allegedly indicated a blood-alcohol level of 0.158 -- almost twice the legal limit for driving.
Bayati told the Iowa Capital Dispatch last year that he doesn’t drink and believed someone, probably his dental assistant, tampered with his cup of coffee by pouring isopropyl alcohol into it after he arrived at the prison that morning.
- Tyler Villiard of Carlisle, IA, who was charged with failing to maintain a reasonably satisfactory standard of competency in the practice of dentistry. The board alleged Villiard failed to properly detect, diagnose, and treat tooth decay lesions shown on multiple patients’ radiographs and that he failed to meet the standard of care and competency for the detection and diagnosis of tooth decay. To resolve the matter, Villiard has agreed to complete a comprehensive remedial education program and submit to one year of board monitoring.
- Alison Dawn Shields of Harlan, IA, who has been charged by the board with failing to protect patients by assigning to qualified personnel only those duties that can be legally delegated; fraud in representation as to skill or ability; knowingly making misleading, deceptive, untrue, or fraudulent representations in the practice of dentistry; practicing beyond the level of training; and delegating any acts to a licensee that are beyond that individual’s training or education. The board has not disclosed how or when the alleged violations occurred. A hearing on the matter is scheduled for November 21, 2025.
- Jocelyn Riley, a registered dental hygienist from Harlan, IA. In what may be a case related to that of Alison Dawn Shields based on the date it was filed, location, and other details, the board has charged Riley with fraud in representation as to skill or ability; knowingly making misleading, deceptive, untrue, or fraudulent representations in the practice of dentistry; and practicing beyond her training. A hearing on the matter is scheduled for October 30, 2025.
- Masih Safabakhsh of Gentle Dental in Cedar Rapids has agreed to surrender his license after being charged with failing to maintain a reasonably satisfactory standard of competency in the practice of dentistry and with indiscriminately or promiscuously prescribing or administering drugs. The board had alleged Safabakhsh performed a root canal and crown services for teeth that did not need care while performing no treatment for teeth that needed care. The board also alleged he “routinely prescribed antibiotics unnecessarily.”
In December 2011, the board charged Safabakhsh with gross malpractice and issued an emergency order restricting his practice, alleging that he had used a cutting or grinding device on multiple patients to “excessively” separate patients’ teeth to facilitate his placement of orthodontic bands in the patients’ mouths. “Due to this, these teeth were severely and irreversibly damaged,” the board alleged.
The emergency order barred Safabakhsh from continuing to engage in orthodontics for new patients, citing an “immediate danger to the public.” In January 2012, Safabakhsh consented to an order permanently restricting him from using a cutting or grinding device to separate patients’ teeth for the placement of orthodontic bands. He also agreed to a $7,500 fine.
Six months later, in July 2012, Safabakhsh was subjected to another emergency order from the board. This time, the board’s order immediately suspended his license to practice dentistry of any kind.
At that time, the board alleged it had received a complaint from multiple employees at Safabakhsh’s dental office regarding a patient who had a medical emergency after being administered 16 cartridges of a local anesthetic and had to be transported to a hospital by ambulance. A board consultant alleged that 16 cartridges of carbocaine anesthetic was three times the manufacturer-specified maximum dosage, although Safabakhsh’s staff allegedly said patients were regularly administered between 10 to 16 cartridges.
The board alleged that after the incident, Safabakhsh’s staff was told in writing that an ambulance was not to be called by anyone unless requested by a doctor or patient. Safabakhsh was also accused of performing substandard work related to a root canal on one patient and a tooth restoration on another patient.
A board consultant also concluded that on multiple occasions, Safabakhsh billed for services that were not performed nor documented in patient records.
The board eventually fined Safabakhsh $10,000. In August 2014, after Safabakhsh underwent remedial training, the board reinstated his license subject to several conditions and an indefinite period of probation. In April 2022, the board reinstated Safabakhsh’s license free and clear of any restrictions and terminated his probation.
This article was originally published in the Iowa Capital Dispatch and republished by DrBicuspid under the Creative Commons license CC BY-NC-ND 4.0. The Iowa Capital Dispatch is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. The Iowa Capital Dispatch maintains editorial independence.
Deputy Editor Clark Kauffman has worked during the past 30 years as both an investigative reporter and editorial writer at two of Iowa’s largest newspapers, the Des Moines Register and the Quad-City Times.
