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Alaska dentist who extracted a tooth while riding a hoverboard on trial for dozens of charges

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Posted at 9:35 AM, Dec 06, 2019
and last updated 2019-12-16 07:46:53-05

(CNN) -- As Veronica Wilhelm lay sedated in a dental chair, her dentist was being filmed riding a hoverboard while he extracted her tooth.

Wilhelm says she didn't know about the hoverboard, or that her procedure in July 2016 was captured on camera. She found out only when investigators contacted her to confirm she was the patient in the video.

According to a lawsuit filed by the state of Alaska in April 2017, her dentist, Seth Lookhart, texted the clip to friends and family, joking in at least one conversation that performing oral surgery while on a hoverboard was a "new standard of care."

Wednesday, at Lookhart's trial on a range of charges including fraud, Wilhelm testified that Lookhart did not ask whether she was comfortable with him performing her tooth extraction while he was on a hoverboard, CNN affiliate KTUU reported. She added that she would never have consented.

"I would've said, 'Hell no!' No, that's unprofessional. It's crazy," Wilhelm said.

Lookhart's trial began November 12 and is scheduled to conclude Friday, according to the Anchorage Daily News.

In the video, Lookhart can be seen standing on a hoverboard in the operating room while he pulls out a patient's tooth. Soon after, he zooms out of the room, takes his gloves off and throws both hands up in the air while zipping down the hallway.

Lookhart's attorney, Paul Stockler, apologized to Wilhelm on the stand, KTUU reported.

"I want you to know that as his lawyer, I apologize for what he did on that hoverboard," he said. "It's unacceptable and you can be assured that when I agreed to represent him, I got in his face and told him what I thought about him for doing this."

He also offered Wilhelm a chance to address her dentist directly, according to KTUU.

"I don't have anything bad to say about you taking out my tooth, I appreciate that, but I just think that what you did was outrageous, narcissistic, you know, and crazy," she said. "I forgive you for all of that, but there's obviously a high-priced lesson that you're going to have to learn."

A phone call and voicemail to Lookhart's attorney was not immediately returned.

Aside from being accused of unprofessional care, Lookhart also faces more serious charges of medical assistance fraud, scheme to defraud and theft. Records show that his dentistry license was suspended in June 2017.

The-CNN-Wire
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