Thomas McFarland, 61, of Wynnewood, Pa., pleaded guilty Monday in state Superior Court to unlawful discharge of water pollutants.
Last year, he unsuccessfully sought to enter a pretrial intervention program that would have spared him a criminal record.
Under terms of the plea agreement, the state will recommend McFarland be sentenced to one year of probation and pay Avalon $100,000 to offset the cost of the cleanup when he is sentenced April 30.
McFarland, who owns a house in the Avalon Manor section of Middle Township, admitted Monday that he took his small motor boat into Townsend Inlet at the north end of Avalon on Aug. 22, 2008, and dumped a bag of waste from his dental practice into the water.
Beginning the next day, dental waste was found washed up along a 15-block stretch of beach at the north end of Avalon.
The waste included approximately 260 dental hypodermic needles, 180 cotton swabs, numerous blue and white plastic capsules used to hold dental filling material, and other items.
Avalon officials recovered a wrapped dental drill bit bearing a lot number that eventually was traced to McFarland's practice. On Sept. 2, 2008, McFarland went to the Avalon Police Department and admitted dumping the dental waste, authorities said.
His lawyer said last May that the dentist was distraught to the point of mental illness over his wife's lung cancer and appeared to be acting out in "a cry for help." The cost of disposing of medical waste from his office was only $200 to $300 per year - something the dentist could easily have afforded, the lawyer said.
