Dental regulators delay Kippax's hearing; license suspension status unclear

AUGUSTA — A hearing to decide what penalty Lewiston oral surgeon Jan Kippax should face for alleged violations of professional standards has been delayed until April.

Kippax was initially supposed to face a hearing by the Maine Board of Dental Practice on Friday, March 10, but the case has been put off until April 14.

Since Kippax’s license was suspended only through March 17, it is not clear whether he will be free to practice dentistry again before the hearing is held.

The executive director of the dental board, Penny Vaillancourt, said Tuesday it’s a pending case and she couldn’t comment on his license status or explain the delay.

The state’s website continued to list Kippax’s license as suspended only until March 17.

Board officials have said the panel has no statutory right to extend a suspension for more than 30 days, so they have to take action by March 16 or Kippax can return to his dental practice — unless he accepts a formal consent agreement that could potentially extend the deadline without letting him see patients.

If there is a consent agreement, the board was not talking about it. It was not listed on the panel’s agenda for its regular meeting Friday, which is the only scheduled session it has before the suspension expires.

The board’s preliminary findings, outlined in a Feb. 15 letter to the dentist’s attorney, called Kippax’s conduct “contrary to fundamental principles and standards of dentistry as a healing profession.”

In suspending Kippax’s license, it said he had “demonstrated lack of skill, lack of empathy, lack of respect for his patients and lack of commitment of serving his community in a safe and caring way.”

Former patients have told the Sun Journal about Kippax removing the wrong teeth, failing to provide painkillers, breaking jaws, slicing nerves and other actions that left them terrified of him.

The state’s complaint against Kippax relies on allegations raised by 18 former patients who said much the same to its investigators. Kippax has not commented on the charges.