NYC- CELEBRITY dentist Larry Rosenthal refused to provide a list of women patients who allegedly traded sex for free dental work, claiming it would violate doctor-patient confidentiality.
But his lawyer, Ron Zakarin, now says, "Larry hasn't had sex with his patients, and he's been married for 25 years . . . and Larry denies the allegations of barter."
Rosenthal - the Park Avenue tooth titan whose patients have included Donald Trump, Bruce Springsteen, Catherine Zeta-Jones and Joan Rivers - is fighting nasty accusations being spread about him by a disgruntled former employee, Dr. Peter Rinaldi, who claims Rosenthal fired him after reneging on a promise to make him a partner.
Rinaldi's $20 million lawsuit against Rosenthal has yet to go to trial. But in court papers obtained by Page Six, Rinaldi claims that Rosenthal had sex with some patients, which lowered the total earnings of the practice and would have lowered Rinaldi's share as well.
Rinaldi has obtained a sworn affidavit from Rebecca Penton, a former receptionist at Completely Bare Salon on Fifth Avenue, where Rosenthal was renting office space in 2002. Penton claims that Rosenthal "solicited me to perform an act of prostitution" while two of his friends held her arms.
"Specifically, Dr. Rosenthal stated that they would pay me $1,000 if I would perform oral sex on his friends," Penton said in her affidavit. "This was definitely not a joke."
But Zakarin says Penton's claims "have never been substantiated." Zakarin also said he suspected the leaks were coming from baddentist.com, an anti-Rosenthal Web site run by a former patient. "Apparently, he has issues with his teeth that make him hate dentists," Zakarin said of Penton.
By that diagnosis, Ellen Fein, co-author of the best-selling 1990s dating bible "The Rules," must also be afflicted with molar mania. She just started lyingdentist.com to exact revenge on Rosenthal, who, she says, gave her "gigantic" teeth that drove her husband away and ruined her health. Fein filed a complaint against him in 2004 with the New York State Office of Professional Discipline.
Rosenthal has settled at least one of four malpractice suits, and his license was suspended in the '80s over possession of drugs without a prescription.
