State suspends license of Kent dentist

Published 4:40 pm Monday, October 20, 2014

The state Dental Commission suspended the license of a Kent dentist because of an unsanitary office and inadequate infection control.

Charles Pan, whose office is in the 27000 block of Pacific Highway South on the West Hill, cannot practice dentistry in Washington until the charges are resolved, according to a Monday media release form the state Department of Health. Pan has 20 days to ask for a hearing and contest the charges.

State investigators allegedly found Pan’s office disorganized and unclean during a May inspection. Pan failed to correct the infection-control deficiencies after the initial inspection when an investigator returned on Sept. 25.

A patient filed a complaint with the state in March about unsanitary conditions at the office. The state received a second complaint from another patient in May about unsanitary conditions.

Pan received a state credential to practice as a dentist in 1994.