Dr. Kristen Helms denies drinking while treating patients as licensing hearing moves to executive session

A licensing hearing resumed Thursday as Dr. Kristen Helms, the respondent dentist, denied allegations that she drank alcohol while treating patients and disputed other claims in a multi-count statement of charges.

Susan Castenguay, the hearing moderator, opened the resumed record and asked Attorney Pizzina to continue direct examination of Helms. Counsel questioned Helms about substance-use allegations and her professional history; Helms repeatedly denied consuming alcohol while providing patient care. "I did not ever ever while I was working ever. Never," Helms testified when asked directly whether she drank on the day of the so-called "wine bottle" incident.

Helms described the Jan. 31, 2022 incident at her former practice and said she was treating patients that morning. She characterized the complaint that followed as retaliatory. "He didn't even have the decency to speak to me first," Helms said about the person she identified as Alex, whom she said filed the complaint.

Counsel and board members debated wording and evidentiary objections during the session. Attorney Spinella objected to the use of the term "relapse" as ambiguous and prejudicial; the board instructed counsel to rephrase and clarified that questions about whether Helms drank while practicing were permissible if posed precisely. Board member Dr. Katz participated in rulings on hearsay and foundation questions.

On background, Helms recounted her education and practice history, saying she graduated from Temple University School of Dentistry, completed a residency at the University of Maryland and had practiced in private dentistry for roughly 30 years, primarily with Mitchell Quintner's office in Milford, Connecticut. She told the panel she had no prior lawsuits or disciplinary complaints and that she left sensitive care in January 2022 and returned to clinical work about a year later.

Helms also discussed prior participation in peer-support/12-step meetings. She said she had attended such meetings about a year earlier, "typically, once or twice a week," but that the meetings were not helpful for her. She acknowledged occasional social drinking around a December birthday and said it was "possible" a random test could have detected a small amount of alcohol, but she denied any positive test showing recent drinking while working.

The panel also addressed other contested items alleged in the statement of charges, including an accidental amphetamine ingestion Helms said occurred in December 2022 when she was not practicing and therefore not seeing patients. Helms said she resumed clinical work in early 2023 with a new employer.

Late in the session, counsel identified errors in an intake report prepared by a third party identified in testimony as "Haven." Because that material is under seal, the board agreed to move into executive session to review the sealed document and stopped the public recording. The hearing will continue in executive session and return to the public record as appropriate.

No formal vote or final licensing decision was recorded in the public portion of the session.