State says root canal by a Fort Lauderdale dentist showed ‘incompetence or negligence’

A Fort Lauderdale dentist “left canals of the root unfilled and perforations were present” after a 2020 root canal, knew he did so but didn’t tell his patient, the Florida Department of Health says.

And that’s only one of the ways the administrative complaint says George Galluzzo, DDS, “was guilty of incompetence or negligence” in his root canal on a patient . The complaint starts the often-ponderous state discipline process.

Online department records show Galluzzo has been licensed in Florida since 1990 and hasn’t had any other discipline issues.

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Before, during and after the root canal

The administrative complaint says on Feb. 25, Patient R.C. went to Galluzzo, who “took an impression for an immediate restoration of a temporary filing” and recommended a root canal on tooth No. 30. But, the complaint says, he didn’t put in the patient records a justification or diagnosis for the filling or the root canal.

“There is no indication that [Galluzzo] had a radiograph (similar to an X-ray) exposed for tooth 30, prior to the initiation of the root canal therapy,” the complaint continued. “When performing a root canal, the minimum standards of diagnosis and treatment in the practice of dentistry require a dentist to obtain radiographs prior to the initiation of root canal therapy.”

The complaint also says Galluzzo didn’t get radiographs after the root canal.

But the root of the problem was that “the root canal [Galluzzo) performed on Patient R.C. was deficient as [Galluzzo] left canals of the root unfilled and perforations were present.”

A Journal of Clinical and Diagnostic Research article explains: “Root perforation complicates the treatment and deprives the prognosis if not properly managed.”

Also, the complaint, says Galluzzo didn’t tell R.C. about the perforations and the unfilled canals, but “proceeded with ... treatment as if the root canal had been successfully completed. [Galluzzo] scheduled Patient R.C. to return to (his) office to have a crown placed on tooth 30.”

R.C. found out about the perforations and unfilled canals when she went to another dentist on May 1, 2020.

By failing to “meet the minimum standards of performance in diagnosis and treatment,” the complaint states that Galluzzo was “guilty of incompetence or negligence.”