A western Iowa dentist is facing multiple disciplinary charges from state regulators, including negligence and unethical conduct.
The Iowa Dental Board has charged Dr. George William Phelps, 76, of Spencer with negligence in the delegation of duties or supervision of employees, knowingly assisting a person to unlawfully practice the profession, permitting an unlicensed employee to perform activities that require a license, unethical conduct for permitting an unregistered dental assistant to practice without documentation of training and for knowingly employing an individual who had surrendered their dental license, and unethical conduct by acting in a manner the board considers untruthful.
A hearing on the charges is scheduled for August 20, 2026.
The board has not publicly disclosed the underlying circumstances that gave rise to the charges.
According to the board, Phelps, who practices as Bill Phelps, has been an Iowa-licensed dentist since 1975. The Iowa Capital Dispatch was not able to reach Phelps at his clinic in Spencer.
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.
