Misischia

We reject a federal challenge to the fairness of the Hawaii dental board admissions procedure as applied to Dr. Misischia. Because he did not appeal the state administrative determination in the state courts, the administrative decision therefore has preclu-sive effect.

I. Facts.

Dr. Misischia, a doctor of dental medicine (D.M.D.), lives in Missouri. He is licensed to practice dentistry in Missouri, California, and Florida. He serves on the faculty of an oral surgery program in Missouri. Yet he has failed the examination for admission to practice as a dentist in Hawaii three times.

In the examination that led to this lawsuit, in August 1991, Dr. Misischia was not required to retake the entire examination, only the one procedure that he had failed twice, “amalgam prep on mannequin.” This test requires the applicant to put a filling in the model tooth of a dental mannequin.

Three dentists who did not know Dr. Mi-sischia, did not know whose work they were grading, and did not consult each other, all failed him. Their primary concern was that “a contact existed between the amalgam and the adjacent tooth.”

Dr. Misischia exercised his right to an informal review by another dentist.…