Woman Says She Suffers After Dr. William Letcher's Dental Care

By Dan Bewley, The News On 6

TULSA, OK -- A Tulsa dentist accused of being a menace to public health will have to wait another four months to learn if his license will be revoked.

In the meantime, a former patient speaks out saying that Dr. William Letcher has nearly ruined her life.

"It's mind boggling," said Donna Nickols, a patient of Tulsa dentist Dr. William Letcher. "We are not wealthy people; we are on fixed incomes."

Donna Nickols is out nearly $20,000 because of dentist work performed by Dr. William Letcher.

"He's a very convincing man; he's a good salesman," she said.

3/18/2010 Related Story: Tulsa Dentist Dr. William Letcher's Hearing Postponed
3/12/2010 Related Story: Tulsa Dentist To Face Negligence, Drug Accusations

Dr. Letcher's web site boasts that his practice is "dedicated to the health and well-being of his patients" and that his "revolutionary procedure changes people's lives."

Nickols would agree that her life has changed, but for the worse, she says.

"This is all I have to bite with, really, the canine teeth. As you can see my jaw teeth do not even go together," she said.

Nickols says Dr. Letcher used a procedure he developed to repair her lower teeth. It's a specially designed resin that would strengthen and increase the biting surface. But her teeth began to decay because, she says, the resin kept them from getting moisture.

"It cracked, it broke, the implants became unstable," Nickols said. "I was unable to eat corn on the cob, apples, anything like that."

The State Board of Dentistry is scheduled to determine whether Dr. Letcher should keep his license. Former patients have accused him lying about the procedure he developed, as well as using their prescription medication for his own use.

They also say he left his patients under sedation for too long and without supervision. Nickols believes that happened to her and that Dr. Letcher put her life at risk.

"The new dentist that I am seeking to do the repair and rehabilitation told me with the drugs I was administered on that day and with my congestive heart failure, I was very lucky that my heart didn't stop," said Donna Nickols, a former patient of Dr. William Letcher.

This isn't the first time Dr. Letcher has faced problems. He was placed on probation in 1995, and his license was suspended for a year in 2000.

As part of the investigation, he cannot practice dentistry until the August hearing.