Dentists

A judge refused to increase bail Monday for a Reseda dentist accused of sexually assaulting two women in his office, despite pleas from prosecutors that he continues to pose a threat to the public. Municipal Judge Michael E. Knight denied a request to increase Kamal Matian's bail to $500,000. The 46-year-old dentist remains free on $60,000 bail that was posted last week. Knight did order Matian to surrender his passport and treat female patients only when another woman is present.

A Reseda dentist charged with five sexual assault counts was ordered to stand trial after one woman testified Friday that the doctor put his hand under her shirt and in her pants. Following a preliminary hearing, Municipal Judge Michael E. Knight ordered Dr. Kamal Matian, 46, to appear in Superior Court for arraignment April 30. Until then, Matian will remain free on $60,000 bail.

A settlement has been reached in a lawsuit filed on behalf of a Pasadena teenager who claimed she was left permanently disabled by a sedative administered in her dentist's office, her attorney said Thursday. Stephen Belgum, an attorney representing Melissa McGrath, would not disclose the terms of the accord except to say it will "provide a significant amount of money and keep her from being a public ward."

Aetna Inc. and the American Dental Assn. announced a class-action settlement by dentists who accused the Hartford, Conn.-based insurer of interfering with dental procedures to cut costs and forcing dentists to comply with excessive paperwork. The settlement calls for Aetna to pay $4 million to 40,000 to 50,000 dentists and $1 million to the ADA Foundation, a charitable group. Lawyers' fees would total $1.25 million, the dentists' association said. The agreement, which must be approved by the U.

The legal struggle between California's dental hygienists and dentists entered a new phase Wednesday with the filing of a countersuit charging the California Dental Assn. with violating the state's antitrust laws. The lawsuit, filed by the California Dental Hygienists' Assn. in Santa Monica Superior Court, accused the dentists' group of trying to eliminate possible competition by licensed hygienists in providing dental care services in California. Kathy Alvarez, Dental Hygienists' Assn.

You may not know it, but there's a battle being waged for your teeth. In Southern California and across the country, dentists are sending out small gifts, writing personal thank-you notes, publishing newsletters and updating their skills and their office decor as the struggle over the nation's teeth and gums becomes, well, a genteel tooth-and-nail battle for market share.

San Fernando Valley dentists surveyed on Tuesday said they already take most of the precautions against the deadly AIDS virus that were recommended last week by a Los Angeles task force. However, some dentists interviewed by telephone said they have been more careful since Dr. Neil R.

Two more patients of a dentist who died of AIDS have tested positive for the virus, but a state health official said Friday that it was not known how they became infected. Both people were told Friday by counselors from the state Department of Health and Rehabilitative Services that they carry the human immunodeficiency virus that causes AIDS, agency spokesman Steve Konicki said. "For us right now, this is a very serious concern," Konicki said.

The California Dental Assn. and an environmental group are expected to sign an agreement today in San Francisco Superior Court requiring dentists statewide to post new warning signs in their offices by early next year alerting patients that they may be exposed to mercury and cancer-causing chemicals.

California's dental hygienists have won an important legal skirmish in their effort to practice without supervision by dentists. A Sacramento Superior Court judge has rejected a petition by the 14,000-member California Dental Assn. to halt a pilot project--the first of its kind in the nation--in which 15 hygienists are practicing on their own, eight in the San Fernando Valley.