A HAMPSHIRE dentist "named and shamed" by the NHS ombudsman has been struck off after being found guilty of serious professional misconduct.

The chairman of the disciplinary committee of the General Dental Council, Huw Mathewson, told New Forest dentist Gary Capon: "The facts demonstrate a pattern of seriously deficient clinical dentistry.

"You attempted to conceal your defective records by fabricating a set of dental records. You attempted to mislead the health authority into believing the records you fabricated were original when you knew this was not the position.

"The fabrication of records with the intention of misleading patients or a health authority is unacceptable conduct. The committee has concluded the fabrication of records combined with proof of a pattern of deficient clinical dental performance makes erasure the only appropriate determination."

Mr Capon, 40, of Mount Avenue, New Milton, said nothing. Previously he had denied being a conman who bungled the treatment of four patients.

He had claimed he was a scapegoat for sub-standard NHS dental services in south-west Hampshire and was under pressure to treat 16,000 patients on his books.

He said he was the only NHS dentist in a 15-mile radius and was working 12-hour days, which resulted in shoddy record-keeping as he struggled to cope.

He was the first medical practitioner publicly exposed by the NHS ombudsman in 1999 for bungling a woman's gum disease treatment.

Mr Capon denied a catalogue of misconduct allegations regarding four patients he treated between 1991 and 1999.

He complained his patients were often difficult, demanding decayed teeth be saved and refusing to have X-rays.

It is alleged he left Rosemary Owen in agony after two fillings, then tried to deceive Southampton and South West Hampshire Health Authority.

But Mr Capon told the committee Mrs Owen would not co-operate in taking X-rays of her teeth.

He also said she exaggerated the pain she was in and made mistakes she was not now prepared to admit.

She also knew the treatment was private and not on the NHS, insisted the dentist.

He admitted his record-keeping was not ideal, but said he put the emphasis on treatment over the written word.

Mr Capon said another patient, Maureen Wixley, was a friend of a friend he was helping for cost price. He said her diseased gums were not treated because Mrs Wixley refused.

However, Mrs Wixley always insisted she did not want to lose any teeth.

Similarly, patient John Wood, 80, refused to allow Mr Capon to extract a problem tooth, instead insisting on a root canal filling.

"I did my best for him and I think it's unfair he's made this complaint," said the dentist.

The dentist described Gwenda Murphy as a difficult patient, saying: "She can exaggerate a splinter on her finger to a 999 call."

He added that he knew her new dentures would initially be a problem because of painful gums.