How stupid is this law :neutral:
Dentists are permitted to treat their spouses — but they better not have sex.
Put another way, dentists who have sex with their spouses better not be messing around with their teeth. This is the current law of the land in Ontario, one that many dentists are secretly flouting and calling “dumb” and “stupid.”
In an interview with the Star earlier this week, Ontario Health Minister Deb Matthews conceded the dentists may have a point and has agreed to review the restriction. One rabble-rouser calling for change is Burlington dentist Larry Pedlar, who, for half a century, counted his wife among his patients. A year ago, he was mortified to learn that if he continued doing this he could be found guilty of sexual abuse and have his licence pulled for five years.
That’s when the Ontario Court of Appeal issued a decision saying that the province’s Regulated Health Professions Act makes it clear that health professionals cannot have sex with their patients. The appeal court was ruling on a case involving a Waterloo chiropractor who had treated his girlfriend. The chiropractor was found guilty of professional misconduct for sexual abuse and lost his licence.
Since the act also applies to dentists, the profession’s regulatory college and professional association immediately put word out to their members, warning that the ruling could have implications for them.
“If I treat my wife, it means I am sexually abusing her,” says an incredulous Pedlar, 72. “It means I would be an outlaw.” Still, half the dentists he knows continue to treat their spouses, he says. “They just keep their mouths shut.” The issue has become a topic of ridicule in dental circles.
In an article titled “Dumb Stupid Laws” in the Oral Health Journal, dentist Randy Lang offers some tips to married dentists who want to continue treating their spouses: “Take a chance and covertly continue to both treat and have sex with your spouse. Have your spouse wear a disguise, like a moustache and beard, when she or he enters and exits your dental office. And make sure all appointments are done late at night under cover of darkness. Also, at home, be sure to lock your bedroom door and cover all the windows with black paper.”
On a more serious note, Lang — an editor of the journal and a lecturer in orthodontics and the University of Toronto — advises relocating to another province where the laws are different. Health Minister Deb Matthews acknowledges that the dentists’ concerns are legitimate. On Monday, she asked the Health Professions Regulatory Advisory Council to take a look at the issue and come back to her with recommendations on possible changes to the rules.
“Why should they not be able to treat their spouses? In some communities, there might be only one dentist. Does that person (spouse) have to travel for that dental care?” she asked. Whatever changes the province may make, protection of patients from sexual abuse by health professionals will continue to be the top priority, Matthews said.
The sexual abuse provisions of the 1993 Regulated Health Professions Act were included because of abuse previously perpetrated by some psychiatrists and psychologists, according to the Ontario Dental Association. In 1995, after successful lobbying by dentists, the then health minister sent a letter to the Royal College of Dental Surgeons of Ontario, giving them permission to treat spouses and romantic partners, something they had a long history of doing.
But last year’s Court of Appeal decision overrides that exemption, leaving the dentists in limbo. Lynn Tomkins, president of the Ontario Dental Association, says the possibility that a dentist doing a filling for a spouse could be “considered the same as a predatory sexual deviant” is extremely troubling.
Dentists are permitted to treat their spouses — but they better not have sex.
Put another way, dentists who have sex with their spouses better not be messing around with their teeth. This is the current law of the land in Ontario, one that many dentists are secretly flouting and calling “dumb” and “stupid.”
In an interview with the Star earlier this week, Ontario Health Minister Deb Matthews conceded the dentists may have a point and has agreed to review the restriction. One rabble-rouser calling for change is Burlington dentist Larry Pedlar, who, for half a century, counted his wife among his patients. A year ago, he was mortified to learn that if he continued doing this he could be found guilty of sexual abuse and have his licence pulled for five years.
That’s when the Ontario Court of Appeal issued a decision saying that the province’s Regulated Health Professions Act makes it clear that health professionals cannot have sex with their patients. The appeal court was ruling on a case involving a Waterloo chiropractor who had treated his girlfriend. The chiropractor was found guilty of professional misconduct for sexual abuse and lost his licence.
Since the act also applies to dentists, the profession’s regulatory college and professional association immediately put word out to their members, warning that the ruling could have implications for them.
“If I treat my wife, it means I am sexually abusing her,” says an incredulous Pedlar, 72. “It means I would be an outlaw.” Still, half the dentists he knows continue to treat their spouses, he says. “They just keep their mouths shut.” The issue has become a topic of ridicule in dental circles.
In an article titled “Dumb Stupid Laws” in the Oral Health Journal, dentist Randy Lang offers some tips to married dentists who want to continue treating their spouses: “Take a chance and covertly continue to both treat and have sex with your spouse. Have your spouse wear a disguise, like a moustache and beard, when she or he enters and exits your dental office. And make sure all appointments are done late at night under cover of darkness. Also, at home, be sure to lock your bedroom door and cover all the windows with black paper.”
On a more serious note, Lang — an editor of the journal and a lecturer in orthodontics and the University of Toronto — advises relocating to another province where the laws are different. Health Minister Deb Matthews acknowledges that the dentists’ concerns are legitimate. On Monday, she asked the Health Professions Regulatory Advisory Council to take a look at the issue and come back to her with recommendations on possible changes to the rules.
“Why should they not be able to treat their spouses? In some communities, there might be only one dentist. Does that person (spouse) have to travel for that dental care?” she asked. Whatever changes the province may make, protection of patients from sexual abuse by health professionals will continue to be the top priority, Matthews said.
The sexual abuse provisions of the 1993 Regulated Health Professions Act were included because of abuse previously perpetrated by some psychiatrists and psychologists, according to the Ontario Dental Association. In 1995, after successful lobbying by dentists, the then health minister sent a letter to the Royal College of Dental Surgeons of Ontario, giving them permission to treat spouses and romantic partners, something they had a long history of doing.
But last year’s Court of Appeal decision overrides that exemption, leaving the dentists in limbo. Lynn Tomkins, president of the Ontario Dental Association, says the possibility that a dentist doing a filling for a spouse could be “considered the same as a predatory sexual deviant” is extremely troubling.
