Published: March 15, 2008 12:00 am      

Convicted dentist's license suspended

He was convicted in April of felony tax evasion

TRAVERSE CITY -- State health officials suspended a Traverse City dentist's license following his conviction in a federal tax case.

Robert Dennis Klym, 68, was convicted in April 2007 of a felony count of attempting to evade or defeat tax, according to a Michigan Department of Community Health statement. Klym is in prison, and the department suspended his license late last month.

Klym specialized in endodontics, a field of dentistry that primarily focuses on root canals. He was licensed as a dentist in 1965 and as an endodontist in 1975, health department records show. His office was on Eighth Street in Traverse City.

Klym failed to file timely income tax returns for his business from 1997 through 2000, court documents show. In 1998, he had a gross income of about $220,500, but failed to pay any income tax or report the earnings.

A judge ordered Klym to pay nearly $130,000 in restitution and sentenced him to 12 months in prison and three years probation, according to the statement. He is incarcerated in a federal facility in Lexington, Ky., and should be released July 8, prison records show.

Health department spokesman James McCurtis, Jr. said felony convictions result in automatic license suspensions for health professionals.

"We allow the legal process to play out, and the legal process found him to be a convicted felon," McCurtis said. "That violates the moral character part of the public health code."

The health department only recently learned of Klym's conviction, McCurtis said.

Klym has 30 days from the suspension notice to request an administrative hearing. If he doesn't, his license will remain suspended indefinitely, McCurtis said.

Klym reported his conviction to the health department and plans to appeal the suspension, said his Grand Rapids-based attorney, Eric Nemeth.

Nemeth believes Klym could get his license back because the offense wasn't directly tied to dental work.

"It had nothing to do with his professional ability to provide dental services," Nemeth said. "He's very anxious to clean all of this up and move on."

It is not uncommon for the health department to suspend medical licenses because of criminal activity, McCurtis said.

"This is not a rare thing," he said. "I get (suspensions) at least once or twice a week."