The Iowa dentist who was found guilty of public drunkenness in April after doing a root canal on a patient is still waiting for the Iowa Dental Board to make a decision on the case.
Paymun Bayati, 59, of Waterloo was charged by the Iowa Dental Board at the end of last year with conducting dentistry in a way that hurts the public and with breaking Iowa laws about dentistry practice. The board said he was a “imminent threat” to the public, so they immediately took away his licence.
In January of this year, a board hearing that was supposed to happen on the issue was cancelled. Instead, the hearing was put off until a later date, which has not yet been set. The board hasn’t told the public about a new hearing date or any other public action it’s taken in the case since then.
Bayati was tried and found guilty of the misdemeanour crime of public intoxication in April for his acts in the disciplinary case.
Police records show that on December 7, 2023, an officer from Anamosa was sent to the Anamosa State Penitentiary to deal with a drunk person who was trying to drive away from the jail. The officer said that when he got to the jail, he met the warden, the deputy warden, and Bayati, who was the dentist at the time.
In the police report, it says that the guard told nurses that Bayati seemed drunk and had just finished root canal work on a patient.
The police officer said that Bayati left the building and tried to drive off after the warden questioned him and “told him that he was done working at the prison.” The report says that the warden and deputy warden then stopped Bayati from leaving.
The police officer said that when he looked at Bayati, he saw that his speech was slurred and that he “smelled heavily” of alcohol. Then Bayati reportedly took a test that showed a blood-alcohol level of 0.158, which is almost twice the legal limit for driving.
The judge’s trial notes are included in the court records. The dental assistant who worked with Bayati said that when she got to work on December 7, Bayati was sitting at the counter with his head on the counter and music playing on a computer.
According to the trial notes, she said that Bayati was swaying back and forth, shutting his eyes, having trouble picking up dental tools, and smelling like alcohol later on while the root canal was being done.
The judge’s notes also show that the nursing administrator said she saw Bayati that day slouched over at a computer desk and smelled like alcohol.
According to the records, she said that Bayati told her he loved her and asked if he still had a job after she told him he couldn’t work and told him to get his things together. The judge’s notes show that she also said Bayati was shaking, looked confused, and laughed inappropriately at one point.
According to the judge’s notes, Bayati said, “I don’t dispute that I was drunk.” “What I’m arguing about is how it happened.” Someone gave me poison.
Bayati told the Iowa Capital Despatch earlier this year that he doesn’t drink and thought that someone, probably his dental assistant, messed with his coffee when he got to jail that morning by adding isopropyl alcohol to it.
Judge Kristin Denniger, who was in charge of the case, said that Bayati’s claims were not credible and gave him an eight-month probation term. Denniger also told Bayati that the criminal case would be erased from public record once he finished his probation.
According to state records, Bayati got his dental licence in Iowa in August 1999. The board charged him in 2022 with not maintaining a fairly satisfactory level of competence when it came to dental implants. After that, the board issued an order telling Bayati she couldn’t do that kind of work on people.
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