Dentist fined £25,000 for practising while suspended

Dulcineea Fiorentina Paul was found guilty on December 15, 2016, at Thames Magistrates’ Court of five charges of unlawfully practicing dentistry, for which she was fined £5,000 per offence. Dulcineea – who did not attend the court – was also ordered to pay the GDC’s full costs of £2,364.10 and a £170 victim surcharge – a total of £27,534.10.

Dulcineea was suspended from the register on February 25, 2016, for multiple instances of poor quality care which meant she was unable to work as a dentist. Despite this, she immediately continued providing dental care to two patients – a grandmother and her granddaughter – on five separate occasions in February and March 2016. Dulcineea worked at a dental surgery in Chingford.

At no point did Dulcineea inform her patients that she was not legally allowed to practice dentistry at that time – and the treatment only stopped after the patients themselves found out about her suspension.