The Perils of Social Media
- Details
- Published: Wednesday, 08 October 2025 11:48
- Written by Peter Ingle
- Hits: 527
That one person‘s idea of humour can be another‘s offence, is not a new phenomenon. What has changed is the ability to share both an original comment and one‘s opinion of it, as well as the opportunity for digital bombardment of those who cause offence.
The recent experience of one California dentist is a reminder that authenticity may not be a practice building, or registration enhancing, quality.
The Santa Clarita dentist has received a slew of negative reviews and online hate after a recording of her joking about withholding pain relief from liberal patients.
The self-proclaimed “MAGA Dentist” is facing the backlash after a video of her joking about turning down the relative analgesia for liberal patients at her Santa Clarita clinic, blew up online.
Dr. Harleen Grewal of Skyline Smiles made this and other remarks about her sentiments towards left-leaning clients during a speech at the Republican Liberty Gala in 2021. At the time there was no reaction beyond her presumably amused audience.
Four years on a video of the speech went viral on TikTok and her comments have suddenly attracted mass attention.
While the original video has since been taken down, copies live on and response videos criticizing Grewal continue to circulate. She has also received a slew of negative reviews and online hate, along with calls for the California Dental Board to investigate her practice.
In 2021 she said at the gala: “I have a secret hat I use sometimes, it says, ‘Make your smile great again.’ So I wear that when I work with my patients, when they look horrified or complain, I quietly cut back on the laughing gas.”
The comments were met with laughter within the context of the Republican gala but have been met with outrage on the internet as well as calls to report Grewal to the California Dental Board.
“Dental care by a dentist who acknowledges that she doesn’t control your pain based on your political party? How does she have a license to practice?” wrote one person in a Yelp post.
More than 100 one-star reviews were left on the practice’s Yelp page in a week, with reviewers lambasting her remarks at the gala. Yelp has now temporarily disabled the review function for Skyline Smiles, stating that due to increased attention in the news, people are likely to be writing about their personal views as opposed to an actual consumer experience.
The outrage incited by the videos was so far-reaching that a dental office in Chicago called Skyline Smiles, which has no affiliation with the Santa Clarita practice, has received multiple one-star reviews as people online mistake it for Grewal’s business.
Grewal has said that the California Dental Board had previously sent an investigator to her clinic after someone accused her of torturing patients who didn’t share her political views. The California Dental Board said it does not comment on whether complaints are submitted to the board as complaints and investigations are confidential.
The story shows no signs of going away having now been widely reported, by amongst others, the LA Times, People.com, and Fox local news.
A defence video, on You Tube, had received over 26,000 views in four days. As to its reception, it seems unlikely that most of those commenting on the video will be attending Skyline Smiles as new patients.
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