A DENTIST stored instruments in “grubby” conditions and lied about how much work she was doing to get more NHS cash.

Aileen Hopkins, who is in her 70s and has owned South Way Surgery in Newhaven since 1988, has been struck off after failing to respond to a series of “very serious concerns”.

During a visit to the surgery an inspector was bitten by a dog.

A misconduct report from the General Dental Council said three dogs had been found under the reception desk.

“Two of the dogs were aggressive and staff told us that they do not like people. One of the dogs bit the inspector’s leg,” the report said.

Ms Hopkins “failed to protect staff and patients from the risks of the spread of infection and injury,” the report said.

It raised 57 “matters requiring attention” and said there was “clear evidence of extraordinary carelessness and chaos”.

But the dentist dismissed the concerns as “nit picky”.

Issues raised in the report included dentists taking “unwrapped instruments from the storage trolley drawers during a patient’s treatment without changing gloves which had been in the patient’s mouth”.

Ms Hopkins “failed to ensure the safety of patients by the use of materials that had passed their expiry date”.

Between 2014 and 2015 she used endomethansone in root canal fillings, despite the fact it was found to be “potentially hazardous to health” and withdrawn from use in 2010.

It also said instruments were stored in a “cube of foam which appeared grubby”.

She had abused patients’ trust and committed fraud against the NHS before trying to cover it up, the report said.

Ms Hopkins exaggerated the number of Units of Dental Activity she carried out to “prevent a deduction to her payments from the NHS”.

The report then said: “When her claiming was under investigation she made retrospective amendments to the records in order to give the impression that her claiming was legitimate.”

The reports said it was “a sad case” as Ms Hopkins had an “unblemished career of over 40 years” and had “admitted many of the allegations at the outset”.

But the findings of the report were deemed too serious to allow Ms Hopkins to continue as a registered dentist.

“With regard to your dishonest claiming you had a moral compass set at self-interest before public interest.”

She had “put patients at unwarranted risk of harm” and brought the dental profession into dispute”, it said.

Her name has now been removed from the registry of dentists.