PHOENIX — Dr. Thomas Endicott, the Arizona dentist facing the possible loss of his Arizona dental license after a patient died in his chair, has lost his license in Utah.
The Utah Division of Professional Licensing had recommended Endicott’s Utah dental license be revoked because of alleged “unprofessional conduct” under state rules. Specifically, the licensing division cites disciplinary actions taken against his dental license in Arizona, dating back to 2018, that Endicott failed to report to Utah regulators. Endicott had 30 days to respond to the allegations.
The Utah Dentist and Dental Hygienist Licensing Board has since decided to revoke his license.
The ABC15 Investigators were the first to report last year that Endicott has red flags in his background dating back 20 years.
He lost his dental licenses in Michigan and Illinois for the criminal charges of healthcare fraud and overprescribing narcotics. But he got a second chance when the Arizona State Board of Dental Examiners licensed him in 2012. Four years later, he obtained a Utah dental license.
Since then, he’s been called before the Arizona Dental Board multiple times. His Arizona license has been suspended for more than a year as a result of a patient's death after dental surgery.
A board investigator said the patient had difficulty breathing after dental surgery, and she lost consciousness. Endicott gave her CPR. Paramedics arrived and took her to the hospital. But she was dead on arrival.
Dr. John Dovgan, a dentist and the board’s chief investigator, told the board there was a failure to identify a cardiac medical emergency and a failure to put oxygen on the patient.
Arizona Dental Board President Dr. Anthony Herro, who is a dentist, told the board Endicott, “completely mismanaged a medical emergency.”
But David Williams, Endicott’s attorney at the time, called the death “an unfortunate event.”
“It’s our position Dr. Endicott appropriately managed the patient’s care and treatment as he tried to walk through an emergent situation,” he told the dental board.
At that board meeting in 2022, Dr. Endicott agreed to refrain from practicing in Arizona for the time being. He later signed an agreement with the board that prohibits him from practicing in Arizona until the outcome of his disciplinary case.
The dental board tried to go a step further last year, offering a disciplinary surrender of his Arizona license. He declined. So the board moved forward with a formal hearing seeking the revocation of his license. That hearing began in December but was continued when Endicott requested additional time to prepare. The hearing is scheduled to resume March 19.
As ABC15 has previously reported, Endicott has a dental license free of restrictions in Utah. Records show he was issued a business license last year for a dental office in a Salt Lake City suburb.
He has repeatedly declined to talk to ABC15. He declined an interview when a reporter for ABC15’s sister station showed up at his Utah office last year.
The ABC15 Investigators have spent the past year looking into cases of people being rushed to the emergency room after dental visits. State records show dentists have called for emergency services dozens of times in the past five years. The patients received anesthesia or sedation during dental work and experienced medical complications.
Since 2018, seven Arizona dentists have had patients die after anesthesia or sedation procedures, according to a review of public documents by ABC15. All those dentists are still licensed, though some have practice restrictions.
Email ABC15 Investigator Anne Ryman at: anne.ryman@abc15.com, call her at 602-685-6345, or connect on X.
