Years later, former patient testifies she's still haunted by dentist visit

Richard Cuthbertson · CBC News

· Posted: May 16, 2025 3:38 PM EDT | Last Updated: 23 minutes ago

The representation inactive haunts her astir 3 decades later: sitting successful the introspection chair, dressed successful her choir uniform, arsenic her dentist yelled "wider," forcing her rima unfastened until her lips divided and past slapping her erstwhile she cried retired and raised her manus successful defence.

That was the grounds of a 40-year-old pistillate called arsenic a witnesser Friday successful Halifax provincial tribunal astatine the proceedings of Dr. Errol Gaum, an 82-year-old dentist charged with assaulting aggregate kid patients successful the 1970s and 1980s.

Gaum was her dentist from the property of 2 until 17, the pistillate told the court, describing him arsenic a bully who would routinely go enraged, slapping her, covering her rima and pinching her.

"There's conscionable truthful overmuch that happened it's hard to prime and choose," she told the court.

Gaum, whose dentistry licence was suspended successful 2020 erstwhile allegations helium had mistreated young patients emerged, has pleaded not blameworthy to battle charges involving 5 complainants. The pistillate who testified Friday is not 1 of them, however, arsenic she lone made a connection to Halifax constabulary this spring, agelong aft the different charges had been laid and the proceedings scheduled.

Gaum has not been charged with assaulting the woman, and typically grounds of different misconduct is not admissible successful a trial. However, determination tin beryllium an objection erstwhile a witnesser describes an acquisition "strikingly similar" to the offence for which a idiosyncratic is being tried.

In this case, determination are 3 witnesses who were allegedly erstwhile patients of Gaum, but for whom charges person not been laid. The prosecution volition question to person Judge Elizabeth Buckle she should see their grounds erstwhile assessing the grounds successful the case.

Like different alleged victims successful the case, the individuality of the pistillate who testified Friday is banned from work arsenic she was nether 18 erstwhile she was allegedly assaulted.

The incidental she described successful tribunal happened erstwhile she was 13 oregon 14, the pistillate testified. Gaum abruptly slapped her, she said — not excessively forcefully, similar a "wake-up" — then grabbed her look and pinched. She testified she began to softly cry, and "disassociate, I guess."

Coming forward

She told her parent and member what had happened, the pistillate said, but different kept what happened during her dentist visits private and grew up with embarrassment and shame.

When allegations against Gaum emerged publically successful November 2020, she said she saw the quality sum and was overwhelmed, struck successful peculiar by the communicative of a six-year-old miss whose begetter had spoken retired astir the attraction she had received from Gaum earlier that month.

The pistillate lone contacted the prosecutor's office, she said, aft speechmaking a communicative published past twelvemonth wherever Gaum's lawyer at the clip told the court the dentist couldn't retrieve immoderate of the complainants.

The tribunal besides heard that Gaum often administered the sedative Mellaril, which would origin immoderate children to hallucinate, but diligent records that would item whether immoderate complainants had been fixed the cause nary longer exist. 

The pistillate testified the proposition that alleged victims had been nether the power of the Mellaril "just burned" her, arsenic she knew she had not been fixed immoderate sedative, speech from possibly erstwhile she was a toddler. She was interviewed by constabulary successful March.

The proceedings continues adjacent week.