Dentist convicted public intoxication waits for final disciplinary action

State regulators have suspended the license of an Iowa dentist accused of being drunk while performing a root canal on a prisoner at the Anamosa State Penitentiary. (Photo courtesy of the Iowa Department of Corrections)

The Iowa dentist who was convicted in April of public intoxication after performing a root canal on a patient is still waiting for the Iowa Dental Board’s final action in the case.

Late last year, the Iowa Dental Board charged Paymun Bayati, 59, of Waterloo, with practicing dentistry in a manner that is harmful or detrimental to the public and with violating provisions of Iowa related to the practice of dentistry. The board alleged he posed an “imminent threat” the public and suspended his license on an emergency basis.

In January of this year, a planned board hearing on the matter was canceled and a continuance was approved with no new hearing date established. Since then, the board has published no notice of a rescheduled hearing or that it has taken any other public action in the case.

In April, Bayati was tried and convicted of the misdemeanor offense of public intoxication for his actions in connection with the disciplinary case.

Police records show that on Dec. 7, 2023, an Anamosa police officer was dispatched to the Anamosa State Penitentiary in reference an impaired person who was trying to drive away from the prison. The officer reported arriving at the prison and meeting with the warden, the deputy warden and Bayati, who was the prison dentist at that time.

According to the police report, the warden said nurses reported that Bayati appeared to be intoxicated and had just completed a root canal on a patient. The officer reported that after Bayati was questioned by the warden and “informed that he was done working at the prison,” Bayati walked out of the building and attempted to drive away. The warden and deputy warden then prevented Bayati from leaving, according to the report.

The police officer reported that he observed Bayati and noticed his speech was slurred and he “smelled heavily” of alcohol. Bayati then submitted to a test that allegedly indicated a blood-alcohol level of 0.158 – almost twice the legal limit for driving.

Court records, which include the judge’s trial notes, indicate the dental assistant who worked with Bayati testified that when she arrived for work on Dec. 7, Bayati had music playing on a computer and his head was resting on the counter. The trial notes indicate she testified that later, while doing the root canal, Bayati was swaying back and forth, closing his eyes, had trouble picking up dental instruments, and smelled of alcohol.

The judge’s notes also indicate the administrator of nursing testified to seeing Bayati that day sitting at a computer desk, slouched over and smelling of alcohol. The records indicate that she testified that after she told Bayati he could not work and instructed him to gather his belongings he told her that loved her and asked if he still had a job. She also testified that Bayati was staggering at one point, seemed confused and was laughing inappropriately, according to the judge’s notes.

“I don’t dispute that I was intoxicated,” Bayati testified, according to the judge’s notes. “How it came about is what I am arguing. Someone poisoned me.”

Bayati told the Iowa Capital Dispatch earlier this year that he doesn’t drink and believed someone, probably his dental assistant, tampered with his cup of coffee by pouring isopropyl alcohol into it after he arrived at the prison that morning.

The judge in the case, Magistrate Kristin Denniger, ruled that she found Bayati’s claims lacked credibility and sentenced him to eight months of probation. Denniger also advised Bayati that the criminal case can be expunged from the public record upon his successful completion of probation.

State records indicate Bayati was issued an Iowa dental license in August 1999. In 2022, the board charged him with failing to maintain a reasonably satisfactory standard of competency related to dental implants. The board subsequently issued an order barring Bayati from performing such work on patients.