Former prison dentist accused of improper, lewd or lascivious conduct
Apr 06, 2026 | 6:02 pm ET
Description
The Iowa Dental Board within the Iowa Department of Inspections, Appeals and Licensing oversees the state's dental profession. (Photo by Getty Images; logo courtesy State of Iowa)
A dentist who worked for the state last year is currently facing disciplinary charges of improper, lewd or lascivious conduct.
The Iowa Dental Board has charged dentist Paul Scot Kunch with unethical or unprofessional conduct, specifically through actions that the board deems to be abusive, coercive, intimidating, harassing, untruthful or threatening, all in connection with the practice of dentistry; and with making suggestive, lewd, lascivious or improper remarks or advances to either a patient or coworker.
A board hearing on the disciplinary charges is scheduled for Nov. 5, 2026.
As is customary with all of Iowa’s licensing boards, the Iowa Dental Board has not disclosed the underlying circumstances that gave rise to the charges except to allege that they occurred while Kunch was practicing dentistry in Fort Madison.
State employment records indicate that in 2025 Kunch was employed by the State of Iowa as a full-time dentist working at the Iowa State Penitentiary in Fort Madison. His salary in 2025 was $95,694.
Kunch, who was first issued an Iowa dental license in June 1991, now works at Trail Ridge Dental Care in Grimes. He did not respond to calls Monday from the Iowa Capital Dispatch.
Kunch is not the only Iowa Department of Corrections dentist to have faced disciplinary charges from the board. Last year, the Iowa Dental Board reinstated the license of a Waterloo dentist convicted of being intoxicated at the state prison where he was providing dental care for inmates.
State records show that in December 2023, Paymun Bayati was arrested at Anamosa State Penitentiary shortly after completing a root canal on a patient inmate. At the prison, Bayati submitted to a test that allegedly indicated a blood-alcohol level of 0.158 — almost twice the legal limit for driving.
He was charged with public intoxication and was convicted in April 2024. He subsequently agreed to voluntarily surrender his license for at least one year. At trial, Bayati didn’t deny that he was intoxicated but alleged someone had “poisoned” him at work.
Hygienist accused of fraud or misrepresentation
The Iowa Dental Board has charged a central Iowa dental hygienist with collecting a fee by fraud or misrepresentation.
The board has charged dental hygienist Angela Renee Page of Ames with knowingly making misleading, deceptive, untrue, or fraudulent representations in the practice of the profession; with taking actions that were abusive, coercive, intimidating, harassing, untruthful, or threatening, all in the practice of dentistry, and with obtaining any fee by fraud or misrepresentation.
The board alleges the undisclosed actions that gave rise to the charges occurred sometime in 2023 while Page was working in Ames.
A board hearing on the disciplinary charges is scheduled for Aug. 21, 2026.
Des Moines, IA
