Man Tortured by Dentist - LIVE

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Man says he was 'tortured' by dentist

Janet French, CanWest News Service

Published: Monday, October 01, 2007

SASKATOON — After he did more than $16,000 worth of unnecessary dental work on a Saskatoon man — including seven root canals in one day — a city dentist has been suspended for two months and must pay at least $102,000 for legal costs and educational upgrades.

In June, the College of Dental Surgeons of Saskatchewan found Dr. Lawrence Ho guilty of professional misconduct and professional incompetence for performing the root canals, and pulling two teeth without enough evidence to show the extractions were necessary.

After a six-day hearing in May, the panel compiled a list of errors Ho made when Wayne Chalazan, who had recently been in a car crash, went to see his dentist in 1999.

The panel found Ho misdiagnosed Chalazan and didn’t do appropriate tests to confirm his diagnosis. Ho failed to realize X-rays he took weren’t sufficient to make a diagnosis, and didn’t keep proper records of the tests, treatments or anesthetic he gave Chalazan.

He didn’t consult with other dental specialists or Chalazan’s doctor, and did some treatments without the patient’s informed consent, among other problems.

“Basically, I was tortured,” Chalazan said Monday.

At the hearing, other dentists who later treated Chalazan said they would never have done seven root canals on a patient in one sitting. Ho should have consulted with other medical professionals to rule out other possible causes of pain before starting dental work, the panel said, especially because Chalazan’s face was injured in a car crash.

Other dentists testified that not only were all seven root canals unnecessary, all of them were done improperly and required repairs in five separate sessions.

The panel also concluded Ho was guilty of charging excessive fees for some of his services and charged extra for X-rays that should have been included as part of the root-canal treatment fees.

Ho has never appeared before the college’s discipline committee before, and has been doing root canals for eight years without receiving complaints.

However, the hearing panel noted Ho never questioned Chalazan’s diagnosis and treatment, even though four more months of dental work didn’t relieve his pain.

Chalazan said the repair work needed to fix his dental problems is still not complete. He has continual pain and has only been able to eat soft foods since 1999.

“He just went gung-ho, because it was a gravy train for him,” Chalazan said.

The 49-year-old says he wants at least $100,000 for lost wages in a civil suit he’s launched against Ho.

Ho must pay $50,000 towards the estimated $98,000 cost the college incurred prosecuting him. He must also reimburse Saskatchewan Government Insurance for $16,850, the cost the insurer paid for Chalazan’s dental work.

© Saskatoon StarPhoenix