How a negligent dentist almost killed my wife

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

Our kind dentist nearly killed my wife Judy. When she was in her late teens, a car accident shattered a single front tooth. So this dentist carved off the teeth on both sides to support a bridge. When those died, he drilled them and mummified them into “root canals.” Over the years, he killed one tooth at a time, leaving their corpses in her mouth to rot and eventually support three more bridges. But she always looked great.

I, too, became a patient of this dentist after I married Judy 35 years ago. When I met him, I already had seventeen mercury fillings, so he must have thought I didn’t have much left to “work on.” He left me alone for the most part.

Four years ago, Judy’s condition worsened over the course of about a year. We consulted more than 20 Kaiser doctors. They were all baffled, and none of them looked in Judy’s mouth or even asked about it.

So I started researching and consulting outside doctors. I followed their advice and wrote to the Kaiser doctors and instructed them to run various tests. Since my letters were included in Judy’s medical records, the doctors did what I asked. It soon became clear that Judy was suffering from “AL amyloidosis.” Until recently, this disease led to rapid death, but new medications are extending the chances of survival.

I asked about daratumumab, the drug that later stabilized Judy’s disease. But the Kaiser oncologist categorically refused to consider it and rebuked me for suggesting it, saying it was “not the standard of care” and was “only used by cowboys.” So I took her to Stanford. That cost more than $30,000 for two chemotherapy sessions and two doctor’s 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 outside of Kaiser to manage Judy’s care.

Among other problems, Judy was drooling heavily. Every hour that night I heard her choking in bed next to me. As I used to be an emergency doctor, I knew what respiratory problems meant and always feared the worst. But she was always optimistic and didn’t think it was dangerous.

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

Her illness was like a crime thriller. The “breakthrough in the case” came when we were in Tijuana to have my mercury fillings removed. I was sneaky – I asked her to have Dr. Lagos “take a quick look” and “take an x-ray to make sure everything is OK.” When they left the exam room, Judy was beaming. She told me, “Don’t worry. Everything is OK.”

I may have gotten married last week, but it wasn’t yesterday. I grabbed Lagos by the elbow, pulled him into another room and closed the door. He knew I knew it was game over and admitted that Judy had four (4) root canals. He didn’t like her any more than I did, but he knew not to argue with a 69 year old woman.

Since I was studying full-time while everyone else was playing, I knew the whole thing right away. Judy’s amyloidosis was caused by infected root canals that spread infection and inflammation throughout her body. Dr. Gammal told many stories of breast cancer and other serious diseases that disappeared after root-treated teeth were extracted, so I knew that the chances of her being cured by removing the teeth were more than zero.

Judy is deeply skeptical, which worked to her advantage. She initially refused to consider that I might be right this one time. In the end, her mouth didn’t hurt and her teeth looked great. I had to convince her to go along with it to save her life.

I love Judy very much and didn’t want to lose her. Her refusal to believe me made me feel like my head was being held underwater for a month. I persuaded her to read a lot of Gammal’s book and had her watch the Root Cause video. At first I thought I would have to tie her to the couch in front of the TV.

While Judy hesitated, I did some research. Becky Dutton recommended that I see a particular European dentist. When Judy finally admitted that she might want to do something, I got Becky on the phone to interview her.

Next came the overseas flight and a six-hour operation under general anesthesia. The surgeon removed all but one of Judy’s teeth, including the infected root canals. The operating room smelled foul because my wife’s teeth and gums were infected. He later said her condition was nearly fatal.

The surgeon cleaned the area, performed a bone graft and placed fifteen zirconia ceramic posts to support the new teeth and bridges:

These are biologically inert and their placement requires special skills. Titanium is often used, but this causes chronic infections and releases toxic metals. Judy was fitted with non-functional cosmetic teeth until the new teeth were fitted three months later.

We stayed for a month for follow-up visits. Judy was instructed to chop up her food and swallow it whole. She didn’t like it, but she got used to it and didn’t lose weight.

Three months after the first surgery, Judy felt fantastic. She had more energy than she had in years and started 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 stop taking some of her blood pressure medications because the stress of the infection had disappeared. Her skin was free of the patches that her chronic infection had likely caused. The flow of saliva from her sore mouth also decreased.

As I write this, she is getting her permanent teeth fitted. They are beautiful and stronger than the originals. The procedure cost half what it would have cost in the US, but we almost had to sell real estate to pay for it. That’s not easy for retirees on fixed incomes, but it’s a small price to pay to bring Judy back to life.

Judy’s new teeth, February 29, 2024

Robert Yoho is a plastic surgeon and author of Butchered by “Healthcare”: What to Do About Doctors, Big Pharma, and Corrupt Government Ruining Your Health and Medical Care.