How a negligent dentist almost killed my wife

An excerpt from Judas Dentistry: How Dentists Scorn Science, Break the Hippocratic Oath, and Wreck Their Patients’ Minds and Bodies.

Our kindly dentist almost killed my wife, Judy. During her late teens, she had a single front tooth destroyed in an auto accident. So this dentist carved the teeth on either side to support a bridge. When these died, he drilled and mummified them into “root canals.” As the years passed, he murdered tooth after tooth, leaving their corpses in her mouth to rot and ultimately support three more bridges. But she always looked great.

I, too, became a patient of this dentist after I married Judy 35 years ago. I already had seventeen mercury fillings when I met him, so he must have thought I had little left to “work” on. He mostly left me alone.

Four years ago, Judy became progressively sicker over about a year. We consulted more than 20 Kaiser doctors. They were all clueless, and none of them looked in Judy’s mouth or even asked about it.

So I began to study and consult outside physicians. Following their advice, I wrote to the Kaiser docs and directed them to run various tests. Since my letters became part of Judy’s chart, the doctors did what I asked. It was soon obvious that Judy had “AL amyloidosis.” Until recently, this was rapidly fatal, but new medications prolong survival.

I asked about using daratumumab, the drug that later stabilized Judy’s disease. But the Kaiser oncologist categorically refused to consider it and chided me for my suggestion. He said it was “not the standard of care” and it was “only used by cowboys.” So I took her to Stanford. This cost more than $30,000 for two chemo sessions and two doctor visits, one of which was virtual. It saved Judy’s life, but she became a dependent, miserable cash cow of for-profit medicine. Throughout her illness, we were forced to hire doctors from outside Kaiser to direct Judy’s care.

Among other problems, Judy salivated heavily. All night, every hour, I listened to her nearly choke to death in bed beside me. Since I was formerly a board-certified emergency physician, I understood compromised airways and always feared the worst. But she was always optimistic and did not think it was dangerous.

Judy and I are (reasonably!) open with each other, and I thought I knew (nearly!) everything about her. She was always unwilling to share much about her teeth, and I respected her privacy for decades. But as I learned more about dentistry, I had to find out what was in her mouth.

Her illness was a detective story. The “break in the case” was when we were in Tijuana having my mercury fillings removed. I was sneaky—I asked her to let Dr. Lagos “have a quick look” and “grab an X-ray to be sure everything was OK.” When they exited the exam room, Judy was beaming. She told me, “No worries. Everything is fine.”

I may have been married last week, but it was not yesterday. I grabbed Lagos by the elbow, pulled him into another room, and closed the door. He knew that I knew the jig was up and admitted that Judy had four (4) root canals. He did not like them any better than I did, but he knew better than to argue with a 69-year-old woman.

Since I had been studying full-time while everyone else was playing, I saw the whole thing immediately. Judy’s amyloidosis was caused by abscessed root canals spreading infection and inflammation throughout her body. Dr. Gammal told many stories about breast cancer and other serious diseases going away when root-canalled teeth were taken out. So I knew removing them would create better than even odds of curing her.

Judy is profoundly skeptical, which has served her well. She initially refused to consider that, just this once, I might be right. After all, her mouth did not hurt, and her teeth looked great. I would have to persuade her to cooperate to save her life.

I love Judy dearly and did not want to lose her. Her refusal to believe me made me feel for a month like my head was being held underwater. I coaxed her into reading much of Gammal’s book and had her watch the Root Cause video. I initially thought I would have to tie her to the couch in front of the TV.

While Judy was balking, I was researching. Becky Dutton told me to see a particular European dentist. When Judy finally allowed that she might consider doing something, I put Becky on the phone to work her over.

Next was the flight overseas and six hours of surgery under general anesthesia. The surgeon removed all but one of Judy’s teeth, including the infected root canals. The operating room filled with a foul stench because my wife’s teeth and gums were abscessed. He said later that her condition would have been fatal soon.

The surgeon cleaned the area, bone-grafted it, and inserted fifteen zirconia ceramic posts to support the new teeth and bridges:

These are biologically inert, and their placement requires specialized skills. Titanium is commonly used, but this causes chronic infections and sheds toxic metals. Nonfunctional cosmetic teeth were placed in Judy’s mouth until the new teeth were inserted three months later.

We stayed a month for the follow-up visits. Judy was instructed to chop up and swallow her food without chewing. She did not like it but adapted and did not lose weight.

Three months after the original surgery, Judy felt fantastic. She had more energy than in years and was starting new projects, which was the best evidence of better health. She also started lifting weights for the first time in four years.

Judy was able to discontinue some of her blood pressure drugs because the infection stress was gone. Her skin was clear of the blemishes that her chronic infection likely caused. The salivation from her inflamed mouth decreased as well.

As I write this, she is getting fitted with her permanent teeth. They are beautiful and stronger than the originals. The process costs half of what it would have in the U.S., but we nearly had to sell real estate to pay for it. This is not easy for retirees on fixed incomes, but for recalling Judy to life, it is a small price to pay.