Dentist 'broke wind in front of patients'

Dentist Matthew Walton provided a whole new meaning to “giving patients gas”, a disciplinary hearing has been told. He is accused of breaking wind and belching in front of patients – and admits sticking two fingers up behind their back.

The General Dental Council hearing was also told that before the dentist would treat people who did not speak good English he demanded to look in their wallets to see if they had enough money to pay. Mr Walton’s ex-colleagues also claim he would say “f***ing hell” if a tooth was tricky to remove. Dental nurse Nicola Groom said: “When you were in the reception area, we had disabled patients downstairs waiting for the surgery and Matthew would just walk in belching. He thought it was a big joke.”



She added: “If the patients had status, if for example a doctor came in, he was fine. He would talk normally. But if someone was, just to give an example, from a council estate his whole attitude was completely different. He would show them no respect.”

The dentist has been charged with misconduct and has been accused of other inappropriate behaviour such as pushing a five-year-old patient. Mr Walton admits breaking wind and swearing in front of staff at the Green End dental practice in Whitchurch, Shropshire, in 2006 and 2007 but denies doing so when patients were there. The dentist says he was not rude to customers or asked them to show their money before treatment. The hearing in Central London continues.