{"id":125417,"date":"2025-11-08T23:52:14","date_gmt":"2025-11-08T23:52:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/125417\/"},"modified":"2025-11-08T23:52:14","modified_gmt":"2025-11-08T23:52:14","slug":"disgraced-auckland-dentist-david-zimmerman-fined-for-illegal-and-botched-work-that-harmed-patients","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/125417\/","title":{"rendered":"Disgraced Auckland dentist David Zimmerman fined for illegal and botched work that harmed patients"},"content":{"rendered":"

But disgraced dentist David Zimmerman<\/a> pulled out the wrong tooth while the woman\u2019s mouth was only partially anaesthetised.<\/p>\n

\"DavidDavid Zimmerman during sentencing in the North Shore District Court. Zimmerman was registered in 1972, suspended in 2014 and later removed from the register, but continued to provide services, which in some cases caused serious harm. Photo\/ Jason Dorday<\/p>\n

Zimmerman did two sharp movements forward and back, but before the second movement was complete, the woman \u2013 in excruciating pain \u2013 punched his hand away.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe pain at the root was off the charts and different to the pain of the original toothache,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

It was a seminal moment in putting an end to Zimmerman\u2019s dentistry career, despite his having been suspended years earlier, and then having his registration removed.<\/p>\n

\u2018Thought he knew better\u2019<\/p>\n

Zimmerman, 79, and his company MJ & Sleep Therapy Centre, were recently sentenced in the North Shore District Court <\/a>on charges brought by the Ministry of Health under the Health Practitioners Competence Assurance Act and the Radiation Safety Act.<\/p>\n

Judge Paul Murray said, in fining Zimmerman and his business, he was driven by the fact that he thought he knew better than the regulatory authorities in continuing to practise despite being banned.<\/p>\n

Zimmerman was registered in 1972 and suspended in July 2014, but continued to provide services.<\/p>\n

The ministry said in its summary of facts that suspension followed a finding by the Dental Council that he posed a risk of serious harm to the public by practising below the required standard of competence.<\/p>\n

His continued practice ultimately led to his registration being cancelled in May 2017 after a complaint from the Accident Compensation Corporation.<\/a><\/p>\n

Judge Murray said the finding remained a \u201csource of contention\u201d for Zimmerman, who continued to offer dental services, leading up to events on Boxing Day 2022 when the woman sought help for agonising toothache.<\/p>\n

System \u2018against him\u2019<\/p>\n

Zimmerman told NZME before sentencing that the \u201csystem\u201d was against him rather than anything he had done.<\/p>\n

But he did not dispute that he had tried to pull out the patient\u2019s wrong tooth while she was not properly anaesthetised.<\/p>\n

\u201cI fully acknowledge that. I didn\u2019t hide from it,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Court proceedings followed the woman\u2019s complaint to the Dental Council in January 2023, which was forwarded it to the Ministry of Health<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Zimmerman continued to operate his dental practice, even after his premises were searched in March 2023, which led to multiple charges against him and two charges against his business.<\/p>\n

\"JudgeJudge Paul Murray read excerpts from five victim impact statements, which revealed the effects as \u201cwide-ranging and serious\u201d. Photo\/123RF<\/p>\n

He eventually admitted one representative charge of using words and descriptions that stated or implied he was a dentist, based on signage outside his property.<\/p>\n

He admitted a further representative charge of claiming to be a practising health practitioner when he saw patients between December 2022 and September 2023.<\/p>\n

The charge covered five instances of Zimmerman performing a restricted activity without permission.<\/p>\n

The centre pleaded guilty to two charges of possessing and managing a radiation source, namely, an X-ray machine, without a licence, which Zimmerman used twice.<\/p>\n

All the offending spanned 11 months from December 2022, Judge Murray said.<\/p>\n

Zimmerman now faced a hefty financial penalty against already significant debt, and the loss in a mortgagee sale of his home, from where he once ran Stanmore Bay Dental in Whangapar\u0101oa, in North Auckland<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Effects on victims \u2018wide-ranging and serious\u2019<\/p>\n

Judge Murray read excerpts from five victim impact statements, which revealed the effects as \u201cwide-ranging and serious\u201d.<\/p>\n

Aside from the woman who he described as having been in \u201cexcruciating pain\u201d from the botched extraction, another had to have remedial work done on an \u201cexcessively painful\u201d filling which never settled.<\/p>\n

Another was left needing stitches for a hole in their cheek from a suction hose during a painful wisdom tooth extraction. <\/p>\n

A fourth person, concerned at the apparently poor state of Zimmerman\u2019s surgical equipment and who bled during treatment, had a \u201cdistressing and frightening period\u201d waiting for blood test results she sought afterwards, Judge Murray said.<\/p>\n

Defence lawyer Michell Staub argued there were no sterilisation issues, but Judge Murray said it was clear concerns had been raised on this point.<\/p>\n

Another patient at a low point in her life borrowed money to receive treatment from Zimmerman and was left feeling worse.<\/p>\n

Some victims expressed shock, anger and embarrassment at having trusted a person they did not know should not have been practising.<\/p>\n

Others felt unsettled and deceived, financially drained and emotionally traumatised.<\/p>\n

One of the two who sought help on a public holiday when options were limited said the experience was \u201cterrible\u201d and it took five months for the pain to subside.<\/p>\n

The identities of all victims were suppressed.<\/p>\n

Wrong tooth pulled<\/p>\n

Judge Murray said the woman who had the wrong tooth pulled out was embarrassed at having trusted Zimmerman and angry at his \u201cflagrant\u201d avoidance of orders. Her witness statement made \u201cconcerning reading\u201d.<\/p>\n

She developed a toothache leading up to Christmas Day 2022.<\/p>\n

It got \u201cmuch, much worse\u201d on Boxing Day, and the pain became unbearable,\u201d she told NZME.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was not able to find anyone to help. I rung every emergency dentist in Auckland, but they all said no one could help me till January 4,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

The only one open was Zimmerman. <\/p>\n

At the time, she did not know he should not have been practising.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe also told me he had been published in the British Medical Journal, which added to his credibility as a dentist.\u201d<\/p>\n

Zimmerman began the examination, wearing a white coat and obstetric gloves but no mask.<\/p>\n

\"TheThe premises in Stanmore Bay, in North Auckland, from where David Zimmerman provided dental services in a room at his home. Image \/ Google<\/p>\n

He did not do any X-rays but tapped the woman\u2019s teeth with something metal a couple of times.<\/p>\n

Judging by her reaction, he decided a tooth closer to the front of her mouth was causing the pain and needed to come out.<\/p>\n

Using the short needle, he put in a round of six to eight injections and then did a test, but the area was not numb.<\/p>\n

Zimmerman gave the woman another round of injections, yet she was still not completely numb.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would say it was perhaps 50% numb with reduced sensation.\u201d<\/p>\n

Zimmerman then did what he described as a \u201cspecial block\u201d from the outside of her cheek.<\/p>\n

\u201cAfter that, I could still talk and could have drunk a cup of tea.\u201d<\/p>\n

Having had the maximum dose of local anaesthetic allowed, and partially numb, the woman agreed to proceed.<\/p>\n

Zimmerman placed a clamp on the tooth, and started to yank it out, but she punched his hand away in agony.<\/p>\n

With her gum bleeding and tooth loosened, Zimmerman sent her to a nearby emergency clinic, where a doctor told her Zimmerman had been struck off and recommended she go to a hospital emergency dentist<\/a> for help.<\/p>\n

The next day she discovered he had tried to pull out the wrong tooth, which by then needed to come out.<\/p>\n

The procedure was done safely the following day.<\/p>\n

Premises searched by police, ministry<\/p>\n

In March 2023, the ministry\u2019s enforcement team helped police in a search of Zimmerman\u2019s premises.<\/p>\n

He was present and when given his Bill of Rights, he showed police a \u201cSovereign National of Aotearoa<\/a>\u201d identity card, the summary of facts said.<\/p>\n

The search found instruments inside an autoclave (steam steriliser) in brown paper bags.<\/p>\n

There was no evidence of a colour change indicating that the instruments had been through a sterilising process.<\/p>\n

On a bench top near the autoclave, there were four used local anaesthetic cartridges, plus three vials of the prescription item lignocaine, which was not typically found in a dental surgery, the summary of facts said.<\/p>\n

\"WhileWhile police were searching the dental premises operated by Zimmerman, a courier delivered a package containing root canal treatment cement. Photo \/ 123RF<\/p>\n

Old plastic milk containers were being used as \u201csharps\u201d containers and pre-loaded local anaesthetic syringes were found in a drawer behind the dental chair.<\/p>\n

The cartridges in the preloaded syringes were not all full.<\/p>\n

While the search was under way, a courier delivered a package containing root canal treatment cement.<\/p>\n

The ministry said health professional regulation existed to keep the public safe.<\/p>\n

Prosecutor Danielle Houghton said the ministry sought a fines starting point for Zimmerman of between $55,000 and $60,000 and between $30,000 and $50,000 for the company.<\/p>\n

The only comparable case, which Judge Murray said was worse in nature than Zimmerman\u2019s, was that of imposter Auckland dentist Narayan Prasad<\/a>, who was sentenced in September to three months\u2019 community detention and ordered to pay $15,950 in reparation to 28 victims.<\/p>\n

Large debts and mortgagee sale of home<\/p>\n

Judge Murray imposed a provisional fine of $41,000 for Zimmerman and $22,500 for the company after deductions for his eventual guilty pleas, and recognition of his limited financial means.<\/p>\n

Zimmerman, whose only income now was a government pension, was said to have debts exceeding $500,000, according to bank documents provided to the court.<\/p>\n

A final determination would be made after a mortgagee sale on November 5 of Zimmerman\u2019s home, and the court\u2019s receipt of a declaration of financial capacity.<\/p>\n

Reparation of $4275 was ordered, from which $500 would be paid to each victim, with the remainder going to those victims who incurred costs for remedial treatments.<\/p>\n

The judge said an aggravating factor of the offending was that it was premeditated in that Zimmerman was aware he was not entitled to practise, but still did, even after his premises had been searched.<\/p>\n

He said there was also an element of commercial gain to the offending, even if the defendent was \u201cgenuinely, misguidedly motivated\u201d to help people.<\/p>\n

Judge Murray said there was a pattern to the former dentist\u2019s behaviour and several of the procedures caused real harm to people, several of whom were vulnerable.<\/p>\n

The woman told NZME after sentencing that she was relieved Zimmerman could no longer hurt anyone else.<\/p>\n

She said it took a lot of courage to find a voice strong enough to see the complaint through, knowing he was still practising.<\/p>\n

\u201cI felt so stupid as I began writing it down, but now I see how many people he has hurt, and I\u2019m proud I spoke out.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tracy Neal is a Nelson-based Open Justice reporter at NZME. She was previously RNZ\u2019s regional reporter in Nelson-Marlborough and has covered general news, including court and local government for the Nelson Mail.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"But disgraced dentist David Zimmerman pulled out the wrong tooth while the woman\u2019s mouth was only partially anaesthetised.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":125418,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[87303,95,66406,51,24003,6284,33606,6125,19631,2082,71,87306,80611,16484,87304,6451,87307,111,43,139,69,87305,6293,4525,1361,80535,49370,1316,102,1354,4576,87302],"class_list":["post-125417","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-zealand","tag-agony","tag-and","tag-approached","tag-auckland","tag-botched","tag-david","tag-dentist","tag-disgraced","tag-fined","tag-for","tag-from","tag-gloves","tag-harmed","tag-illegal","tag-infected","tag-knew","tag-mask","tag-new-zealand","tag-news","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-obstetric","tag-patients","tag-something","tag-that","tag-tooth","tag-wearing","tag-when","tag-with","tag-woman","tag-work","tag-zimmerman"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/125417","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=125417"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/125417\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/125418"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=125417"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=125417"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=125417"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}