Editorial: Pulling teeth

State lawmakers need to perform a root canal on the board governing Nevada dentists.

An audit presented last week to a legislative subcommittee revealed a host of issues with the Nevada State Board of Dental Examiners. Of foremost concern: The investigative process appears arbitrary and there is no mechanism to review the results.

Patient complaints to the board are dispatched to other dentists — a red flag right there — who serve as “disciplinary screening officers.” If an officer concludes an allegation has merit, the board’s attorneys try to cut a deal with the offending practitioner before resorting to a hearing with the full board.

But there is no check on the fact finder.

“Investigation results are not reviewed and sufficient guidance has not been developed to provide additional assurance that [officer] conclusions and recommendations are based on sufficient evidence,” the audit found.

The auditors go on to observe that nonexistent oversight of the screening officers increases the likelihood of inconsistent and potentially inequitable disciplinary resolutions.

Assemblyman Glenn Trowbridge, a Las Vegas Republican who sits on the subcommittee, raised issues with the practice of potentially meting out harsher punishment to dentists who prefer a full-board hearing to a settlement. “That’s where the allegation of extortion comes in,” he said. “Either pay me now or we’ll look into it deeper and you’ll pay more.”

The Sunset Subcommittee of the Legislative Commission is charged with determining the fate of numerous commissions and licensing boards created by lawmakers. Unlike most state licensing panels, a strong case can be made for the existence of the dental board.

But the audit discloses a range of troubling practices that call into doubt whether the board is adequately serving the public’s interest. If members of the dental board don’t quickly act on their own to implement reforms — such as creating an independent mechanism to review investigative findings, for instance — the Legislature must do it for them.