Witnesses at licensing hearing say Dr. Christine Helms provided competent care and deny seeing impairment

Maureen Weed, a certified dental assistant who said she has worked with Dr. Christine Helms since about 2007, testified at a licensing hearing that Helms is a "very skilled dentist" with "an amazing bedside manner" and that she had not seen patients returned for corrective work because of incompetence.

Michelle Amato, a dental hygienist and part-time first-year clinical instructor at the University of Bridgeport who said she has known Dr. Helms since about 1999, also testified that she "never" observed Dr. Helms treat patients while under the influence of alcohol or other substances and described Helms as "very caring" and "a very skilled clinician." Both witnesses said they could not provide precise dates for events years earlier and did not know the specific reason Dr. Helms was asked to leave a prior practice.

The testimony came after the panel resumed the hearing on the record following an executive session. Attorney Spinella called Ms. Weed and then Ms. Amato as character and fact witnesses for Dr. Helms; both witnesses were sworn before giving testimony. During direct and cross-examination, the witnesses described their employment histories, professional interactions with Dr. Helms and whether they had observed any impairment during patient care. Ms. Weed said she has worked chairside with Dr. Helms in two practices and estimated roughly 18–19 years working with her. Ms. Amato said she worked with Helms at Sensitive Care and later at Dworkin Dental and that she typically did not attend morning huddles because of family responsibilities.

Board members and counsel probed specific items raised earlier in the proceeding, including a reference to a "wine incident" at a morning huddle and the circumstances surrounding Dr. Helms' dismissal from a prior practice. Both witnesses denied observing alcohol use by Dr. Helms during patient care. Ms. Weed said she "did not know" who told Dr. Helms to leave the office on the day in question and said she was not present for any conversation that led to the dismissal. Ms. Amato said she "believes" she was present on a day when Dr. Helms was sent home early but could not recall whether that was the dentist's final day at the practice.

An evidentiary objection during Ms. Weed's testimony about Dr. Helms' technical competence was raised and overruled by a presiding clinician, who stated that an experienced certified dental assistant can reliably comment on a dentist's skill in practice. Counsel entered a letter from Ms. Amato as an exhibit. No formal board action or vote appears in this excerpt. Attorney Spinella indicated he would call Dr. Jay Dworkin as the next witness and the hearing continued with arrangements to admit that witness to the videoconference.

The hearing remained ongoing at the close of this excerpt; no disposition or final board finding is recorded here.