A central Iowa dentist has agreed to surrender her license after being charged with professional incompetence in the case of a patient who lost six teeth.
The Iowa Dental Board alleges that in January 2022, dentist Marion Jane Blount of Ames, IA, now 74, placed temporary crowns on six teeth of a patient and then failed to replace them with permanent crowns in a timely fashion. As a result, the board alleges, the patient was in pain and eventually required treatment for an infection.
In addition, the board alleges, the patient went to another dentist who had to extract the patient’s six front teeth and then provide the patient with a partial plate, all “as a result of the poor work” that was performed by Blount.
Without admitting any wrongdoing, Blount recently agreed to surrender her license with the understanding that she can seek reinstatement in one year, according to board records.
It’s not the first time Blount has been sanctioned by the board. In 2007, the board charged Blount with employing or permitting an unregistered person to practice dental assisting and with failing to maintain adequate infection control protocols. As a result, her license was placed on probation for two years.
In 2013, the board again charged Blount with employing or permitting an unregistered person to practice dental assisting. In that case, the board imposed a $500 civil penalty but took no action restricting her license or practice.
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.
