State orders Kent dentist to stop practicing with a suspended license

Published 5:11 pm Tuesday, March 10, 2015

State health officials issued a temporary cease and desist order against a Kent dentist for allegedly practicing with a suspended license.

The state Dental Commission suspended Charles H. Pan’s license in October because he didn’t meet infection control requirements in his clinic, according to a state Department of Health media release on Tuesday.

Pan signed an agreed order in November that continued the suspension until he successfully passes a Dental Commission infection control inspection. Pan’s license is still suspended, and he isn’t allowed to practice dentistry in Washington. However, he has allegedly continued to treat patients.

The dentist has 20 days to request a hearing to contest the order to cease and desist.

In October, the state reported that Pan’s office, in the 27000 block of Pacific Highway South, had an unsanitary office and inadequate infection control. Investigators noted the office as 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 2014 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.