Colorado Dental Board Suspends Dentist Over Spore Tests, Surgical Gloves, and Laser Hair Removal

Edited by Dentaltown staff

Colorado regulators say a Monument dentist wasn’t running spore tests on his sterilizers, wasn’t testing his waterlines, and was doing wisdom tooth extractions without sterile gloves. They also say that next door, he was performing laser hair removal and serving as medical director of a med spa.

The Colorado Dental Board suspended the license of Dr. Scott Hirsbrunner, owner of White Diamond Dental in Monument, effective 5 p.m. Sept. 11. In its emergency order, a board panel that reviewed the case Aug. 31 found he had committed a deliberate and willful violation of the Dental Practice Act. It also found that public health, safety, and welfare required immediate action.

The case started with a patient complaint filed April 13. According to the order, Hirsbrunner extracted the patient’s wisdom teeth without first taking panoramic radiographs. The order says he also performed scaling and root planing without justification on the same day. Hirsbrunner told KRDO the teeth were fully erupted and he expected a quick procedure. He said he stopped partway through to take the X-ray once it got harder.

State inspectors then made a “no-knock” inspection of the practice and listed nine infection-control deficiencies. The order says the office did not conduct spore testing or have a written policy for failed spore tests, used improper sterilization practices, and did not test its dental waterlines. It says the office also had no infectious-waste contract, no tuberculosis testing records for employees, no bloodborne-pathogen exposure plan, and no annual OSHA and CDC training for staff. And it says the office didn’t use antibiotic hand soap or sterile gloves, even though Hirsbrunner performed surgery.

Hirsbrunner told KRDO many of the findings were documentation problems. He said his office sent sterilization tests to an outside lab once a month. The CDC recommends spore testing at least weekly, and the board’s order says the testing wasn’t done at all. He acknowledged that the office used regular exam gloves during surgery, and that some employees hadn’t had tuberculosis testing.

Then there’s the med spa. The board found Hirsbrunner owns and operates Beody Wellness Medspa, located next to his dental practice, and serves as its medical director. KRDO reported that the two businesses share an entrance. According to the order, Hirsbrunner said he performs IPL photofacials, laser hair removal, and CO2 laser skin resurfacing. The board said those treatments, and serving as a med spa medical director, are outside a dentist’s scope of practice.

Hirsbrunner told KRDO that the equipment companies that trained him said he could be a medical director. “I thought that we could do that,” he said. He has since brought in a physician to serve in that role.

While suspended, Hirsbrunner can’t practice or employ dentists, dental therapists, hygienists, or assistants. He also can’t earn income from patient care provided by other licensees, except for treatment given before the suspension began. He told KRDO he has corrected the deficiencies and asked the state to reinstate his license. The suspension stays in place pending proceedings to determine whether further discipline is warranted.

Sources:
Colorado Dental Board, Order of Suspension, In the Matter of Scott Wayne Hirsbrunner, D.M.D., Case No. 2026-3656-A, effective Sept. 11, 2026: dora.state.co.us/hirsbrunner-summary-suspension
KRDO, “KRDO13 Investigates: State suspends El Paso County dentist’s license over infection-control and med spa concerns,” Sept. 24, 2026: krdo.com/state-suspends-el-paso-county-dentist