By . Daily Mail Reporter . PUBLISHED: . 08:43 EST, 30 August 2012 . | . UPDATED: . 11:10 EST, 30 August 2012 . New documents released in Denver suggest a rogue local dentist who was found to have been reusing dirty syringes on patients for 12-years was also high on prescription drugs. The Colorado Board of Dental Examiners has said Dr. Stephen Stein wrote Vicodin and Vicoprofen prescriptions for his patients and then collected them himself while he was operating as a dentist between 1999 and 2011. The board has claimed that Dr. Stein was under the influence of these drugs while practicing dentistry in Denver and is accused of reusing sedation drugs, IV's and syringes on patients. Scroll Down for Video . Bad dentist: Dr Stephen Stein, pictured, is accused of being high while he reused sedation syringes on patients for nearly 12 years . Dr.Stein who denies criminal charges of prescription fraud while he was operating out of his offices in Highlands Ranch and Cherry Creek in Denver, did admit to attending rehab for chemical and substance abuse in 1998. This follows an advisory from Colorado health officials in July that thousands of Colorado residents could be at risk of HIV or hepatitis after Dr. Stein was found to have been reusing dirty sedation syringes on patients for nearly 12 years. State health officials requested 8,000 former patients of Dr. Stein get tested after a probe revealed the rogue dentist used the same syringes and needles for multiple patients to give intravenous medications, including sedation, between September 1999 and June 2011. 'Needles and syringes were used repeatedly, often days at a time,' a fact sheet on the state's website explains. Three people so far have tested positive, although it is not conclusive if it is because of maltreatment by Dr. Stein. 'The CDC and department confirmed it would be difficult if not . impossible to conclude definitively whether the dental practice was the . actual source of transmission for any of these positive test results,' the CDPHE said in a release sent out in early August. One anonymous former patient of Dr. Stein's spoke to 9NEWS in Denver after her husband was one of the three who received a positive diagnosis after testing - for Hepatitis C. The male patients had several procedures performed by Dr. Stein and the last was in September 2009 when the dentist removed one of his wisdom teeth. Dr. Stephen Stein was in a rehab facility in Colorado in 19998 before the period of 1999 to 2011 when he is accused of reusing syringes on patients and using prescription drugs . 'Because there can be a small amount of blood that remains in syringes and needles after an injection through an IV line, there is a risk of spread of bloodborne viruses, such as HIV, hepatitis B, and hepatitis C, between patients.' Dr Stein hasn't worked since June 2011, although his website gives no indication the dentist is no longer practicing. For more than two decades, Dr Stein worked out of Stein Oral and Facial Surgery at South Quebec Street, Highlands Ranch. Between August 2010 and June 2011, the dentist also worked at a surgery known by the same name or, to some, as New Image Dental Implant Center, located at East 1st Avenue, Denver. Celebrate: Dr Stein, pictured centre celebrating the opening of his Cherry Creek surgery in 2011, potentially infected patients with HIV or hepatitis . Another surgeon, Dr Jeremy Miner, has taken over the Highlands Ranch office. The state is contacted at least 8,000 at-risk patients they have identified through dental records, advising them to get checked for HIV, Hepatitis B and Hepatitis C, and also appealing to the public in a bid to reach those they have no addresses for. Infected: At least 8,000 patients could be at risk of HIV or hepatitis because of Dr Stein's 'mind-blowing' blunder . Dr Stein's patients who got only local, oral anesthetic shots are not believed to be at risk of the potentially deadly viruses and no infections have been reported so far. Hollynd Hoskins, a Denver attorney who represented victims who were infected with Hepatitis C at Rose Medical Center in 2009, told the Denver Post that Dr Stein's alleged reuse of syringes and needles was 'mind-blowing and indicates an utter disregard of the known consequences of spreading life-threatening diseases.' Colorado public health director Dr Chris Urbina added: 'This is a very unusual case, and that's why we're taking this so seriously.' Patients who don't know whether they . received IV medication should get tested anyway and those who were . treated by Dr Stein prior to 1999 should if they are concerned, but the . state doesn't know whether syringes were being reused back then. Those . who are sure they didn't get an IV don't need to be tested. Surgery: Patients who had an IV at Dr Stein's East 1st Avenue, Denver, office, pictured, or at Highlands Ranch are being asked to get tested . The Dental Examiners' Board forced Dr Stein to stop practicing on June 24, 2011, although the ruling was unrelated to his potentially infecting thousands of patients with bloodbourne viruses, according to the Denver Post. The Colorado Department of Regulatory Agencies, which overseas medical licenses, refused to disclose the nature of the complaint that prompted its investigation, and by chance brought the unsafe syringe use to light. 'When public safety became an issue, we immediately jumped on it,' spokesman Maulid Miskell told the newspaper.
A July report also revealed that Dr. Stephen Stein was found to have been reusing dirty .
sedation syringes on patients for nearly 12 years .
Colorado state officials contacted around 8,000 .
at-risk patients advising .
them to get checked for HIV, Hepatitis B and Hepatitis C .
Three people tested positive for the infectious diseases, although it’s .
unknown if the infections are related to Stein’s practice .
By . Daily Mail Reporter . PUBLISHED: . 08:43 EST, 30 August 2012 . | . UPDATED: . 11:10 EST, 30 August 2012 . New documents released in Denver suggest a rogue local dentist who was found to have been reusing dirty syringes on patients for 12-years was also high on prescription drugs. The Colorado Board of Dental Examiners has said Dr. Stephen Stein wrote Vicodin and Vicoprofen prescriptions for his patients and then collected them himself while he was operating as a dentist between 1999 and 2011. The board has claimed that Dr. Stein was under the influence of these drugs while practicing dentistry in Denver and is accused of reusing sedation drugs, IV's and syringes on patients. Scroll Down for Video . Bad dentist: Dr Stephen Stein, pictured, is accused of being high while he reused sedation syringes on patients for nearly 12 years . Dr.Stein who denies criminal charges of prescription fraud while he was operating out of his offices in Highlands Ranch and Cherry Creek in Denver, did admit to attending rehab for chemical and substance abuse in 1998. This follows an advisory from Colorado health officials in July that thousands of Colorado residents could be at risk of HIV or hepatitis after Dr. Stein was found to have been reusing dirty sedation syringes on patients for nearly 12 years. State health officials requested 8,000 former patients of Dr. Stein get tested after a probe revealed the rogue dentist used the same syringes and needles for multiple patients to give intravenous medications, including sedation, between September 1999 and June 2011. 'Needles and syringes were used repeatedly, often days at a time,' a fact sheet on the state's website explains. Three people so far have tested positive, although it is not conclusive if it is because of maltreatment by Dr. Stein. 'The CDC and department confirmed it would be difficult if not . impossible to conclude definitively whether the dental practice was the . actual source of transmission for any of these positive test results,' the CDPHE said in a release sent out in early August. One anonymous former patient of Dr. Stein's spoke to 9NEWS in Denver after her husband was one of the three who received a positive diagnosis after testing - for Hepatitis C. The male patients had several procedures performed by Dr. Stein and the last was in September 2009 when the dentist removed one of his wisdom teeth. Dr. Stephen Stein was in a rehab facility in Colorado in 19998 before the period of 1999 to 2011 when he is accused of reusing syringes on patients and using prescription drugs . 'Because there can be a small amount of blood that remains in syringes and needles after an injection through an IV line, there is a risk of spread of bloodborne viruses, such as HIV, hepatitis B, and hepatitis C, between patients.' Dr Stein hasn't worked since June 2011, although his website gives no indication the dentist is no longer practicing. For more than two decades, Dr Stein worked out of Stein Oral and Facial Surgery at South Quebec Street, Highlands Ranch. Between August 2010 and June 2011, the dentist also worked at a surgery known by the same name or, to some, as New Image Dental Implant Center, located at East 1st Avenue, Denver. Celebrate: Dr Stein, pictured centre celebrating the opening of his Cherry Creek surgery in 2011, potentially infected patients with HIV or hepatitis . Another surgeon, Dr Jeremy Miner, has taken over the Highlands Ranch office. The state is contacted at least 8,000 at-risk patients they have identified through dental records, advising them to get checked for HIV, Hepatitis B and Hepatitis C, and also appealing to the public in a bid to reach those they have no addresses for. Infected: At least 8,000 patients could be at risk of HIV or hepatitis because of Dr Stein's 'mind-blowing' blunder . Dr Stein's patients who got only local, oral anesthetic shots are not believed to be at risk of the potentially deadly viruses and no infections have been reported so far. Hollynd Hoskins, a Denver attorney who represented victims who were infected with Hepatitis C at Rose Medical Center in 2009, told the Denver Post that Dr Stein's alleged reuse of syringes and needles was 'mind-blowing and indicates an utter disregard of the known consequences of spreading life-threatening diseases.' Colorado public health director Dr Chris Urbina added: 'This is a very unusual case, and that's why we're taking this so seriously.' Patients who don't know whether they . received IV medication should get tested anyway and those who were . treated by Dr Stein prior to 1999 should if they are concerned, but the . state doesn't know whether syringes were being reused back then. Those . who are sure they didn't get an IV don't need to be tested. Surgery: Patients who had an IV at Dr Stein's East 1st Avenue, Denver, office, pictured, or at Highlands Ranch are being asked to get tested . The Dental Examiners' Board forced Dr Stein to stop practicing on June 24, 2011, although the ruling was unrelated to his potentially infecting thousands of patients with bloodbourne viruses, according to the Denver Post. The Colorado Department of Regulatory Agencies, which overseas medical licenses, refused to disclose the nature of the complaint that prompted its investigation, and by chance brought the unsafe syringe use to light. 'When public safety became an issue, we immediately jumped on it,' spokesman Maulid Miskell told the newspaper.
have been reusing dirty syringes on patients for from Colorado health officials in July that have been reusing dirty sedation syringes on patients for nearly 12 years. State health explains. Three people so far have tested his wisdom teeth. Dr. Stephen Stein was in a 8,000 at-risk patients they have identified through dental records, advising them to get checked for HIV, Hepatitis B and Hepatitis C, and