Dentist Shanti Kandala at the new Edward M. Kennedy Community Health Center in Milford, Feb. 7, 2024.
Santa Clarita, California – A Southern California dentist has found herself at the center of an internet firestorm after a viral video showed her joking that she withholds anesthetic from patients who don’t share her political views.
Dr. Harleen Grewal, who runs a practice in Santa Clarita, can be seen in the since-removed TikTok video describing how she uses her support for former President Donald Trump as a kind of calling card for her business. In the video, Grewal, who refers to herself as the “MAGA Dentist,” stands at a podium, mocking patients who are put off by her office décor — walls filled with photos of Trump, Republican leaders, and prominent figures in his orbit.
“I get patients that come into my office, and when they see the pictures, you’d think their butt was on fire,” Grewal says. “They jump off and take off as if Trump was coming in the room.”
She goes on to jab patients who complain about the cost of care by asking, “How’s Bidenomics working for you?” She also quips that she preferred having fewer Democratic patients during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, adding that she wished they had “stayed home with their masks on.”
But the line that drew the sharpest reaction came when Grewal pulled out what she called her “secret hat” — a red cap embroidered with the slogan, “Make Your Smile Great Again.” In the video, she claims she sometimes wears the hat while treating patients and “quietly cut[s] back on the laughing gas” for those who complain.
The implication that Grewal tampers with anesthesia based on a patient’s politics quickly turned her into a lightning rod online, with accusations of malpractice and unethical behavior filling her social media accounts. Yelp temporarily disabled reviews of her business, Skyline Smiles, citing “increased public attention.”
In screenshots shared online, Grewal’s business page defended her comments as humor. “It was part of a funny speech,” one reply read. “If you don’t have a sense of humor you won’t understand.” Another comment told a critic to “go get a life.”
Confronted by KTLA outside her office Thursday, Grewal doubled down on her defense, saying the remarks were jokes made during a political fundraiser and insisting she had been cleared of wrongdoing after a review by the California Dental Board.
In an opinion piece she published in the Santa Clarita Valley Signal, Grewal claimed her words were “twisted” and her career targeted. She described the backlash as an effort at “cancel culture,” writing, “When you stand up, speak out and make a difference, there are people who will try to tear you down. But here’s the truth: It only works if you let it. And I refuse to let it.”
The California Dental Association, however, was unequivocal. In a statement, it said: “The comments in this video, even if intended as humor, do not reflect the ethical standards of the dental profession.”
For many, the controversy is about more than one dentist’s choice of words. It’s about whether patients — regardless of their political affiliations — can trust that their care is guided by medical ethics rather than partisan allegiances. The firestorm surrounding Grewal shows how, in an era where political identity often seeps into everyday life, even the dentist’s chair isn’t immune from culture wars.
