An Irish dentist who unbuttoned the blouse of a trainee nurse -- exposing her bra -- has claimed he acted "imprudently", but not through sexual motivation.

The middle-aged man, who can't be named for legal reasons, denies three charges of sexually assaulting the young dental nurse.

He claimed yesterday at Cork District Court that he was checking the woman's uniform to make sure the buttons wouldn't fall off. The dentist is accused of the acts against the woman, in her 20s, on dates between April 9 and June 16, 2008.

Judge Tim Lucey adjourned the verdict in the case until today. He will also rule on whether or not the defendant can be named.

The man said he wanted to check the buttons on the blouse as his other nurse had problems with the buttons falling off a similar type of uniform.

Defence solicitor Frank Buttimer said the dentist acted with "imprudence" but nothing more.

The dentist said he was "shocked and devastated" when he first heard the allegations made against him.

The trainee nurse also claimed that the dentist put two of his fingers on her sternum between her breasts while claiming to check the alignment of her teeth.

She claimed that, on a second occasion, the defendant photographed a tattoo on her lower abdomen with a micro-camera, which he then put inside her pants.

The woman left the dentist's clinic after working there for less than two months.