Quebec dentist suspended, fined for vulgar, sexist and racist comments

A child is in a dentist office on Sept. 7, 2023. (George Walker IV, The Associated Press)

Warning: This story contains offensive language.

A Montreal dentist has been suspended for three months and fined $10,000 for making racist and vulgar remarks and gestures during a conference for dental students.

The January decision against Dr. Viktor Dorokhine came after two complaints were filed with the Quebec Order of Dentists disciplinary council in May 2023. He faced a series of disciplinary hearings in 2023 and pleaded guilty to the complaints in January.

"You look like a Persian Jew with that nose," "Do you like f#$king Indigenous people," "You're nothing but a little doll with big breasts," and "It's a good thing you have big breasts" were among the multiple comments Dorokhine admitted to making during the conference, in addition to kissing a company representative's hand and telling her she was "sexy" and telling multiple people they had a "nice ass."

The list continues with over a dozen vulgar, racist, and sexist comments.

"I can do whatever I want to you," he told a company rep. "I am Viktor! I am Viktor! I am on the board; you will call me doctor! I am a doctor and I can cut you open and do anything I want to you!"

According to the judgment, he also made "inappropriate gestures and comments of a sexual and/or degrading nature."

Dorokhine made the comments to male and female students and other people at a conference in January 2023 where he was a guest speaker.

The victims' names were withheld in the court document to protect their privacy. Dorokhine is listed as a family dentist working out of Mirabel.

Dorokhine was serving at the time on the Canadian Dental Association's board of directors, but the organization said he is no longer a director on the board, effective April 22, 2023.

"On or about January 14, 2023, in Montreal, while attending a conference organized by the Federation of Canadian Dentistry Student Associations, the respondent committed acts derogatory to the honour and dignity of his profession by making inappropriate gestures and comments of a sexual and/or degrading nature," reads the legal document.

Dorokhine denied the allegations when they were first made but changed his tune later.

He has agreed to undergo psychotherapy and "took full responsibility for his actions and the comments he made."

"He acknowledges that his conduct was inappropriate and that he undermined the honour and dignity of the profession," the document reads.

Dorokhine was a graduate of the Université de Montreal in 2009 and also works in the Northwest Territories.

He must also pay to publish a notice of the court's decision in a newspaper.