A DENTIST accused of misconduct over his treatment of three patients has said he never promised to cure them.

Francois Jacobus Rossouw, 54, said patients could back out and he was careful to ensure they did not expect a “magic wand” to solve their problems.

He told a hearing of the General Dental Council: “I have never set myself up as a specialist.”

Rossouw, who worked at the Dental Practice, in Halstead Road, Lexden Heath, Colchester, is said to have acted unprofessionally and not in the best interests of his patients.

It is claimed he failed to tell two patients a treatment he proposed to correct problems with the alignment of their jaw was not usual practice.

In both cases, he proposed extensive treatment involving splints and orthodontic appliances, but failed to fully explain how it worked, or what other alternatives there were.

He is also said to have failed to reconsider treatment when the patients reported pain, and then stopped working at the surgery, without informing them or making arrangements for their care.

In a third case, he is said to have fitted two crowns to a woman without informing her in advance, and to have failed to get her informed consent.

A hearing in London heard many of the dentist’s patients had complex problems with the joint that connects the lower jaw to the skull.

Many had done the rounds of other medical practitioners looking for a cure.

Rossouw told the hearing: “I always have to be very careful with these patients because they are looking almost for a magic wand that will fix them.

“You have to be very careful you state what you can do to them and what you cannot do.”

He accepted the complex and controversial treatment plans he proposed could take years.

“The patients have never been locked into the total treatment,” Rossouw said. “They always have a chance to stop.”

He added: “The change usually takes place after three months. There is a chance they can take the appliance away.”

Rossouw accepted he was working as a specialist “with a small s” and received referrals from other dentists.

He told the hearing: “I have been referred more and more difficult patients to treat.”

Rossouw escaped punishment in 2008 despite being found guilty of serious professional misconduct for giving trainee police officer Anna Hitchcock “inappropriate and irreversible treatment” which left her suffering severe jaw pain.

Rossouw denies misconduct.

The hearing continues.