A Monument dentist has lost his license to practice after state regulators found nine separate infection-control failures at his office, along with medspa treatments they say fell well outside what his dental license allowed. The Colorado Dental Board suspended Dr. Scott Hirsbrunner’s license effective Sept. 11, determining that emergency action was necessary to protect public health, safety and welfare.
The board’s move followed a complaint filed by a former patient on April 13 alleging substandard treatment and infection-control violations, according to KRDO. That complaint, and a subsequent unannounced inspection by the Colorado Department of Regulatory Agencies at White Diamond Dental in Monument, uncovered problems the board said amounted to reasonable grounds to believe Hirsbrunner deliberately and willfully violated the Colorado Dental Practice Act.
Nine Deficiencies Found During Inspection
The board’s order identified nine infection-control deficiencies at the practice, the station reports. Investigators found the office failed to conduct spore testing for instrument sterilization, lacked a written policy for handling failed spore tests, and used improper sterilization practices overall. They also found the office failed to test dental waterlines, lacked an infectious-waste contract, and had not provided annual employee training on OSHA and CDC guidelines.
Additional findings included missing employee tuberculosis-testing records, no written bloodborne-pathogen exposure plan or established referral clinic, and a failure to use antibacterial hand soap during surgery. The list also included a failure to use sterile gloves during procedures. The CDC recommends using a biological indicator, commonly called a spore test, at least once a week to monitor sterilizer performance — but per the same account, White Diamond Dental was reportedly sending its sterilization tests to a third-party lab only once a month.
Dentist Says Sterilization Was Done, Just Not Documented
Hirsbrunner told the station his office had been sterilizing instruments properly the entire time, insisting the real problem was paperwork. “We were doing the sterilization properly,” he said. “There just wasn’t documentation.” He also acknowledged the office did not use sterile gloves during dental surgery, saying, “It was normal gloves that we normally use.”
On the tuberculosis-testing gap, Hirsbrunner did not dispute the finding. “Some of our employees had it done, and some did not,” he said. He told the station the office has since completed employee training and addressed the other deficiencies, though that claim reflects his own account rather than an independent verification.
Wisdom-Tooth Extraction Raised Separate Concerns
Beyond the infection-control findings, the board determined Hirsbrunner failed to take panoramic X-rays before extracting a patient’s wisdom teeth and found he performed scaling and root planing without justification on the day of a surgical extraction. Hirsbrunner acknowledged he began the wisdom-tooth extraction without first taking a panoramic X-ray, saying the procedure initially appeared likely to take only 20 or 30 minutes. He said he did take a panoramic X-ray during the procedure before working on the lower wisdom teeth.
Medspa Next Door Ran Outside Dental License Scope
Hirsbrunner also owned and operated Beody Wellness Medspa, where he served as medical director, located adjacent to White Diamond Dental and accessible through the same entrance. At the medspa, he performed intense pulsed-light photofacials, laser hair removal and carbon-dioxide laser skin resurfacing. The Colorado Dental Board determined those procedures, along with his role as the medspa’s medical director, fell outside the scope of practice allowed under his dental license.
Hirsbrunner said he believed training and certifications from equipment companies had authorized him to perform the procedures. He also said he had since arranged for a medical doctor to serve as the medspa’s medical director going forward.
What the Suspension Prohibits
The suspension order requires Hirsbrunner to immediately stop any work requiring a Colorado dental license. It also bars him from employing a dentist, dental therapist, dental hygienist or dental assistant while suspended, and prohibits him from directly or indirectly receiving income from dental patient care performed by other licensees, except for treatment provided before the suspension took effect.
Hirsbrunner said his employees remain employed but are not treating patients, and that they are working to bring the Monument office into compliance. He said no patients have been treated at either White Diamond Dental or Beody Wellness Medspa since the suspension took effect, and White Diamond Dental has postponed patient appointments. A second location the practice had listed on North Union Boulevard in Colorado Springs — an address White Diamond Dental’s own website lists at 8770 N. Union Blvd. — is still being remodeled and has never opened to patients, according to Hirsbrunner.
Hirsbrunner told the station he has submitted information to the state seeking reinstatement of his license and said he takes responsibility for bringing the practice into compliance with OSHA infection-control and dental-board requirements. The summary suspension remains in place pending further disciplinary proceedings before the Colorado Dental Board.
The case comes as Colorado’s dental industry navigates a broader regulatory shift. A new set of rules under the state’s Dental Practice Act took effect June 30, according to skytalegroup.com, though separately the Colorado Dental Board voted to pause enforcement of certain practice-ownership provisions until the Colorado Court of Appeals rules on a related legal challenge, per the Colorado Dental Association.
