Sally Hague said she never intentionally put her patients' health at risk
A dental nurse who worked alongside a dentist who sparked the "biggest recall in NHS history" has admitted 20 charges relating to her own poor hygiene.
Sally Hague worked with Desmond D'Mello, whose alleged failings include reusing dirty gloves and not decontaminating dental instruments.
Ms Hague's own failings include brushing and flossing her teeth in the hand sink at Daybrook Dental Practice in Nottinghamshire.
She accepted the charges via letter.
Parts of the letter were read at a General Dental Council (GDC) hearing, which Ms Hague did not attend.
She said it had been an extremely busy practice and the dentist worked under immense stress and needed more support with his workload.
She agreed contamination control should have been better and felt she had let herself and her patients down, although she never intentionally put their health at risk.
The GDC has not yet decided how to sanction her.
The 20 allegations relating to her own hygiene include:
Failing to wash hands at necessary times.
Failing to ensure surfaces were properly cleaned.
Re-using single-use equipment including gloves, brushes and bibs.
Re-using equipment that had not been sufficiently decontaminated, including extraction forceps.
Failing to change gloves after each patient.
She also admitted failing to raise concerns in relation to Desmond D'Mello.
Desmond D'Mello has been suspended for 18 months while he is investigated
Concerns about him were instead raised after his associate dentist covertly filmed him from 3 June to 6 June last year.
Mr D'Mello is still being investigated but has asked for voluntary "erasure" from the GDC register, meaning he cannot work in the UK.
Some 22,000 former patients of his practice were recalled.
Thousands were tested for blood borne viruses and five tested positive for hepatitis C.
One of his patients, Amy Duffield, died shortly after treatment but a coroner concluded her death was not connected to the treatment.
Daybrook Dental Practice is now under new ownership
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