A DENTIST who told a female patient she could not receive treatment from him unless she wore "appropriate Islamic dress" has been found guilty of serious professional misconduct.

Dr Omer Butt, registered in Prestwich, received an admonition following a three-day disciplinary hearing of the General Dental Council in London in which he was found guilty of discriminating against the woman, named only as Ms A.

A disciplinary hearing also found him guilty yesterday of telling Ms A that, if she did not wear a headscarf, she would need to register with another dentist.

The dentist was found guilty of undermining public confidence in the dental profession by discriminating against Ms A, a non-practising Muslim, in seeking to impose an Islamic dress code on her in order for treatment to be provided by him.

The woman, a community nurse, told the hearing she was left "humiliated and upset" when she went to Dr Butt's Unsworth Smile clinic in Bury, Greater Manchester, in April, 2005.

She said Dr Butt told her she would have to find another dentist because she would not wear her headscarf.

In evidence to the committee, Dr Butt admitted reducing treatment fees to encourage female patients to wear the Islamic headscarf. He also said he would ask Muslim women to cover up in observance of Islamic law before he treated them. But he denied refusing treatment to her because she would not follow his rules.

Ms A told the committee she sought to register at the clinic in Parr Lane after the birth of her young child because it was nearer to her home.

She said she telephoned the clinic to make an appointment and was told they required Muslim women to wear the headscarf. Muslim men attending the clinic could not wear gold jewellery, she was told.