"NOT A CHARLATAN."

Auckland Star, Volume LXI, Issue 222, 19 September 1930, Page 9

"NOT A CHARLATAN."

BREACH OF DENTAL.ACT.

Prosecuted by the .Dental Association, Lionel Henry Headdy appeared .before Mr. W. R. McKean, S.M., in the Police Court this morning charged with a breach of the' Dental Act in that,: not being registered as a dentist under the Dentists Act, 1908, lie did practice dentistry. Defendant was fined £3 and costs. Mr. J. R..Gray appeared for defendant and pleaded guilty. "Defendant is not a charlatan, or . a quack," said counsel. "He was apprenticed in 1903 and lias been' connected with the profession for the past 27 years. - He served his full term of'four years as an apprentice and practised' lawfully until the passing .of the Dentists Amendment Act, 1921. In that year amendments , were passed which provided that" no person should practice-except under certain conditions. In 1922 defendant passed his exam in all subjects except one—physiology. The following year he sat again and passed in'all subjects except dental anatomy." The case was a particularly hard one, said counsel, and one that deserved the consideration of the Court. Defendant made no' secret of the fact that he had been practising. ,He did not propose to continue practising until he had completed his exams. Counsel suggested that the case should be adjourned until defendant had complete his exams.

In summing up, the magistrate said that defendant had had long experience but had not been able to pass his exams all at the same time, and that seemed to be what Avas required. However, the Act was there, and its provisions must hot be ignored.