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Rogers said that as an oral surgeon, Harrington routinely does invasive procedures that involve “pulling teeth, open wounds, open blood vessels.”

The Dentistry Board complaint says Harrington and his staff told investigators that a “high population of known infectious disease carrier patients” received dental care from him.

A device used to sterilize all instruments wasn’t working properly, the complaint said. A test is supposed to be performed monthly and sent to a lab to determine that the equipment is successfully sterilizing instruments, but “no such test had ever been performed in the 6 years one dental assistant had been working at the office,” the complaint said.

Patients also were put at risk because one vial of drug would be used on multiple people, according to the complaint. Dental assistants’ drug trays were kept in a cabinet with multiple opened and unopened vials of drugs and needles, the complaint said. Needles would be reinserted into vials and then into ports if more medicine was needed, the complaint said.

A great risk of cross-contamination

“All of these practices cause a great risk of cross-contamination,” the complaint said.

The doctor also apparently used outdated drugs, as one vial found this year had an expiration date of 1993, the complaint said.

The complaint accuses Harrington of “being a menace to the public health by reasons of practicing dentistry in an unsafe or unsanitary manner or place.”

The health departments said hepatitis B, hepatitis C, and HIV are serious medical conditions and infected patients may not have outward symptoms of the disease for many years. “As a precaution, and in order to take appropriate steps to protect their health, it is important for these patients to get tested,” their statement said.

Most people who get hepatitis B have it for a short time, though it can cause a long-term infection that can damage the liver. It can be transmitted through unprotected sex and sharing needles.

Testing is being offered for free at the Tulsa Health Department’s North Regional Health and Wellness Center.