Dentist
seeks to relieve other ills
Opponents say surgery
potentially dangerous
Maureen West
The Arizona Republic
March 05, 2001 12:00:00
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"It was that or an
expensive funeral," Ruth Van Sandt, 81, of Phoenix, says about the
surgery her dentist did on her jaw. |
While many dentists say they practice holistic dentistry, few go as far as the Valley's Dr. Terry Lee.
Like other holistic dentists, Lee offers his patients a choice besides mercury fillings.
But the 59-year-old Phoenix dentist performs controversial cavitational surgeries that he claims provide a wide range of health benefits by cutting out dead or diseased parts of the jawbone.
It's not uncommon for his patients to spend $20,000 or more out of their own pockets since Lee's surgery is not covered by dental insurance.
Lee's surgeries can involve opening up a healed-over part of the mouth where a tooth was once pulled or extracting serviceable teeth that have been treated with root canals. Lee says such surgery can relieve headaches, arthritis, chronic fatigue and other health problems.
Conventional dentists say the claims are unproven and the practice is potentially dangerous. Arizona's Board of Dental Examiners frowns on the practice, as does the Arizona Dental Association, which represents 70 percent of Arizona's dentists.
"You don't do the cutting edge of new things in the clinic. Dr. Lee has decided he is above the law or science," said Greg McFarland, executive director of the Dental Association and one of Lee's most vociferous critics.
McFarland worries that the high degree of interest in holistic medicine in Arizona means more people may be willing to undergo Lee's "unproven" dental practices.
Dental board members also have expressed concern that the "invasive" surgeries Lee performs can't be reversed and "patients may have been permanently harmed."
Lee says that conventional dentists, who control the board, don't understand his style of dentistry so it is difficult for them to evaluate his work.
"The dental board says this is quackery, it is against their philosophy," said Lee, adding that the dental industry makes so much money from root canal work that they want his viewpoint silenced.
"I don't have triple-blind studies to back up what I am doing," Lee admits. "But I have pictures of people and their stories that tell me what I am doing is helping them."
Also under fire are some of Lee's unconventional diagnostic methods.
While dentists acknowledge that oral health is important to the whole body's health, Lee and other holistic biological dentists connect each tooth to different parts of the body.
Lee uses applied kinesiology, which tests the strength and sensitivity of different parts of the body. Lee also uses two machines that purportedly can tap into the body's energy levels and key acupuncture points. And he uses conventional X-rays.
McFarland worries that Lee's surgical procedures could lead to nerve damage and facial muscle paralysis.
Lee faced 15 days of hearings in 1999 because of nine complaints. Some of those complaints were later dropped, but at least two remain in the courts.
One former patient, whose face was partially paralyzed because of nerve damage after cavitational surgery, settled out of court for an undisclosed sum.
An administrative law judge recommended Lee's license be revoked in 1999. But the Board of Dental Examiners chose to put Lee on five years' probation.
After a review of Lee's patient records last spring, board investigators pulled files on 13 patients. All of them had undergone jawbone surgery. But none had filed complaints, and some petitioned the board to have their records returned so Lee could resume treating them.
On Feb. 2, the board decided that Lee might have violated his probation by continuing to perform "questionable" dental procedures. The board voted to send Lee's case to a hearing before an administrative law judge, who could recommend that the board revoke Lee's license. Lee is contesting the board's move.
Lee is defended by a group of conservative Arizona legislators, including Rep. Karen Johnson and Sen. Rusty Bowers, both Mesa Republicans, who say he's being harassed by dentists who don't want consumers to have a choice between conventional dentistry and holistic alternatives.
Last year, they successfully pushed a bill requiring dentists to tell patients of the materials used in fillings. This year, legislators introduced a bill that would provide protection for doctors, like Lee, who want to pull teeth on which a root canal procedure has been done or remove mercury fillings.
Lee says he has paid $250,000 to Charles Brown of Swankin & Turner, an aggressive Washington, D.C., law firm that specializes in holistic dentistry and claims victories nationwide against the use of mercury fillings.
At a recent dental board meeting, the police were called when Brown objected to the board voting to go into executive session. They were trying to clear the room, and he refused to leave at first. Hours earlier, Brown was at the Arizona Legislature, lashing out at the dental board and calling for the board's funding to be cut.
"Brown is setting Dr. Lee up as holistic dentistry's martyr or titular head," said McFarland of the dental association. "Brown is after a watershed win in Arizona so he can take it to Nevada or somewhere else."
Lee has many supporters in Arizona's alternative-medicine community. His patients often are referred by naturopaths or homeopathic physicians.
Lee's own doctor, Dr. Bruce Shelton, a homeopathic physician, believes Lee has been singled out unfairly for attack. Shelton says Lee has the kind of calm manner and experience that inspires trust. "Dr. Lee has been trained by some of the finest doctors and dentists in the world and is a man ahead of his time," Shelton says.
Lee first delved into alternative health 20 year ago when he asked a homeopath to help him overcome sinus problems. While defending his approach has at times been hard on him and his family, he is unshakable in his belief that what he is doing is right. If his license is revoked, he vows to practice in Mexico and keep fighting the dental board in court.
Dental board members say they are concerned that Lee continues to pull teeth that have been given root canals even though the root canals were successful and there appears to be no medical reason to justify extraction.
Lee believes bacteria from root canals can trigger cavitations - dead or diseased sections of the jawbone - which can cause all sorts of health problems. Dead bone also can be caused by an extraction area not being thoroughly cleaned, Lee said. The dental association says these claims are unproven.
Dr. Chris Hussar, a Reno osteopath and dentist who teaches cavitational surgery, estimates there are at least 100 practitioners of holistic dentistry around the world. It is a procedure, Hussar said, that has become popular as more people suffer pains that conventional doctors are unable to treat.
Doctors, including Lee and Hussar, believe that some of that pain is due to the increase in the number of root canals, which in recent decades have replaced the former practice of simply pulling dead teeth.
McFarland hopes the spotlight on Lee's case will inform consumers that there are dangers to these surgeries. Lee hopes it will encourage more of them to question conventional dental techniques.
Both say what drives them is their concern for patients' health.