Texas Dentist Under Investigation After Sending Patients Naughty Texts
2023-10-04
A Texas dentist who has hundreds of thousands of followers on social media and is known for his outspoken, edgy humor has been accused of sexual harassment and bullying by many women who claim they received inappropriate messages from his official social media accounts.
Dr. Kenneth Wilstead, who goes by @DrKennySmiles on Instagram and @DrKennySmilesOfficial on TikTokPhoto byFamily Dentist Garland
Dr. Kenneth Wilstead frequently posts pictures of his "smile makeovers" on social media under the handles @DrKennySmiles on Instagram and @DrKennySmilesOfficial on TikTok. The videos often begin with the patient in the chair at the dentist explaining how their teeth came to be in the condition they are in before cutting to the patient admiring their brand-new, ideal smile. On apps like TikTok, where Wilstead has more than 700,000 followers, and on Instagram, where he has more than 500,000 followers, the videos receive hundreds of thousands of views daily.
However, on August 31, he posted a callout video for a new reality show, and is seeking people who would like a free smile makeover in exchange for being a part of the new show. Shortly after, several women online started to voice their concerns about how Wilstead treats his female patients and women who seek out his dental care.
Two women who were prospective patients said they received sexually explicit messages sent from his account but had never met with him in person. Another woman said she received bullying messages from his account on social media claiming she doesn't fit the bill due to her size. A fourth woman said she filed a complaint against him after he swore at her and told her that her dental problems were in her head.
A patient who was touched inappropriately by Wilstead last year filed a medical malpractice lawsuit against him. A jury trial is scheduled for the case, according to a 14th District Court docket.
On the "About us" part of the website for his dental practice, Smile Again Dental, Wilstead is the only dentist listed. It is unknown if any further dentists work there.
"I have staff who help handle my social media", Wilstead claimed in a lengthy email to NBC News on Friday. "The character I play both online and in my office has been something I have used to break the tension of a stressful experience and unfortunately sometimes people who don’t have full context feel like I cross(ed) the line and it’s their right to have their own opinions," he wrote. "I respect that right."
He stated in response to the legal action being brought against him that "a woman is suing me and falsely accusing me of touching or grabbing her buttocks." In his statement to NBC News, he claimed that he is "totally innocent of any inappropriate touching of that woman."
One of the first users to publicly criticize Wilstead for allegedly sending sexually suggestive messages on TikTok was Taylyn Peaco. Her video gained alot of traction last week after it was shared by Ophelia Nichols, also referred to as “Mama Tot” on TikTok.
Wilstead's content was previously highlighted by Nichols, who has more than 12 million followers on the platform, after the dentist offered to replace a fractured tooth for free. She advised Wilstead help someone more in need in her initial video about him, which is no longer on the platform. Later, he gave away three complimentary smile makeovers.
Peaco, 27, said that she leaped at the chance for a free smile makeover because she had previously been quoted $60,000 for needed dental repairs. She sent Wilstead a message on Instagram after posting a video of her audition.
Peaco initially received a message informing her that Wilstead would get back to her shortly. Later, she received another message that seemed to be from Wilstead himself, informing her that he would be visiting prospective patients' homes to determine whether they would be good candidates for his show.
“Please send me 10 more pictures of your size shape and stuff like that please. This show is about a lot of things beyond teeth. So that will help me,” the message read, adding, “Clothing optional,” along with a skull emoji.
"You took my most vulnerable moment, one I would never post online, and that was supposed to be funny?" Peaco stated, adding that she believed Wilstead's alleged remark exploited her.
Annely Timmerman, 32, claimed that Peaco's account of others sharing their stories gave her the courage to speak up. Timmerman also submitted an audition to TikTok. Timmerman sobs in the audition video as she talks about the hereditary disorder called oligodontia, which causes her to have missing teeth.
Timmerman discovered that Wilstead follows her on Instagram after posting her video. She apologized for being a "ugly cryer" and sent him a private message asking if he had seen her video. Wilstead's verified account replied with the message: "I just wanted to have sex with you. It's fine."
“My message from him had sat in my Instagram messages for a couple of days before I ever said anything about it, because it is intimidating,” she expressed. “Of course I wanted to be like, ‘Who the hell does this guy think he is?’ but he has such a huge platform.”
Wilstead referred to his employees in response to the "clothing optional" message claim, and hinted that one of them must have posted it under his account.
“We were running a contest and one of them made the comment ‘clothing optional, knowing how I sometimes joke with my patients,” he stated. “The same is true of the comment that I wanted to have sex with the woman who called herself ugly. It was a misjudgment of my staff trying to impersonate the way they thought I might speak. I don’t defend either of the statements which were in poor taste, " he wrote.
He added that his patients are aware of his usage of their before-and-after images and films to demonstrate results "because they sign off on my right to do so. Again, this is no problem for almost all of my patients.”
Following the release of the videos by Timmerman and Peaco, many people started bringing up some of Wilstead's previous work and content, pointing out how problematic some of his actions in those videos were.
In an Aug. 17 video on his Instagram page, Wilstead is heard making ajoke about his sex life toa 90-year-old patient and the people who came in with her. In a Sept. 11 video on Instagram, he calls a patient’s teeth “disgusting.”
Three disciplinary actions are listed by the Texas Board of Dental Examiners on Wilstead's license page. The disclipline took place in 2015, 2019, and 2021.
According to a settlement agreement ruling, Wilstead's prescribing of controlled medications for non-dental purposes was the cause of the 2015 action. Among other sanctions, Wilstead was forced to pay a fee, complete continuing education programs, and give up his Department of Safety and Drug Enforcement Administration controlled narcotic licences.
The 2019 disciplinary action stemmed from a situation in which Wilstead was discovered to have fallen short of the required level of dental care, including failing to do periodontal probing and failing to obtain cementation radiographs when placing crowns on two teeth. According to a settlement agreement, the board also said Wilstead failed to keep and maintain accurate records and abandoned a patient.
According to an agreed settlement order, the final disciplinary action states that Wilstead failed to provide the minimal quality of care, maintain correct records, and submit the board with a business record affidavit.
The 2019 agreed settlement order's complainant, 43-year-old Amanda Moore, filed the complaint. Her allegation was related to an appointment from February 1, 2017. Moore, who claims to have crippling OCD, claimed she started going to a practice where Wilstead was employed in order to receive treatment she could not afford at her regular dentist.
Moore claims Wilstead exploded at her when she visited his office concerned about a dark spot on her teeth in a complaint dated Feb. 25, 2017, which was made via email to the Texas Board of Dental Examiners on March 5, 2017.
In her complaint, Moore states that Wilstead told her, “I can’t believe you’re here wasting my f--- time” and told her the dark spot on her teeth was “in your f--- head.”
According to the 2019 agreed settlement order, Wilstead "abandoned" a patient on February 1, 2017, the day Moore listed in her complaint as the day of her meeting with Wilstead, which is why part of the disciplinary action is being sanctioned. “Who would find this ethical? I mean, doctors and dentists have to take the Hippocratic Oath,” Moore said. “This is despicable.”
All three disciplinary proceedings, according to Wilstead, "were for minor situations" and "have been expunged." I learned from each situation,” he wrote in his statement.
A woman who said Wilstead made lewd remarks and touched her buttocks filed a medical malpractice lawsuit against him last year. She claimed in the lawsuit that she had also seen pictures taken of the cleavage of another patient. The matter is still pending.
In addition to completely dismissing the woman's claims on the indecent images of her chest, Wilstead stated, "This is the first time I have heard that false accusation."
When Lauren Spaulding, 30, sought dental care from Wilstead in February after losing teeth during two pregnancies, she claimed she felt intimidated and bullied.
Spaulding requested a quote and showed him pictures of her teeth. He allegedly called her a "dips--" when she misinterpreted a message on the quote.
Spaulding claimed that following her encounter with Wilstead, she developed depression, lost her job, started taking antidepressants, and experienced suicidal thoughts.
“It just takes one harsh word to make someone go over the line. It could just take someone as vile as him pushing someone over the edge, you know," Spaulding said.
She and the other ladies expressed the hope that by speaking up, others would not have to deal with the inappropriate behavior they had.
In an email statement, Wilstead said he doesn't "recall" the incident Spaulding alluded to.
Tiktoker @bekahdayyy has created a playlist entitled Dr. Kenny Deep Dive, and she has been posting new information daily about the "naughty" dentist. She is dedicated to telling the victims stories on her platform. As more stories are told, more and more women are reaching out to her to explain how their encounters were with the dentist. In a video posted on September 26, she talked about an 18 year old patient who reached out to her to tell her story. In the video, Bekah explains how the girl was allegedly dropped off for her appointment to get crowns placed on her teeth. The only people that were in the entire office during this time was Doctor Kenny, and the anonymous patient. The patient was allegedly given a sedative, and when she got up to rinse her mouth out in the bathroom, she seen a lot of blood and was a little shaken. Allegedly, Dr. Kenny then started to massage her back, and guided her to his office, where he allegedly offered her cash in exchange for allowing him to grab her chest. The young woman felt very uncomfortable, and didn't know what to do, as her teeth weren't even finished, and were shaved down without crowns placed yet. The day before her appointment to have the permanent crowns placed, She allegedly recieved threatening texts from the doctor stating that if she didn't come over to his home while his wife was away on vacation, he would not finish her teeth. She said that she did go over to the dentist's home in fear that he would abandon her unfinished teeth. The patient claims that Dr. Kenny allegedly sexually abused her, and that the very next day she missed her appointment, and filed charges with the police instead. The police dismissed it, due to lack of evidence, and claimed it was a "he said, she said" incident.
Bekah has stated in her most recent video about Dr. Kenny that she was recently served a cease and desist from Dr. Kenny's lawyer, so she didn't want to say much more about the situation, in fear of a lawsuit.
Dr. Kenny has continued to deny all of the allegations, despite the amount of overwhelming responses from various previous patients claiming misconduct.
"If someone wants to complain now to be part of the vocal minority on social media to make them feel like they are part of something, I get it," he wrote in the email to NBC News. "That is the nature of the society we live in. It seems like a feeding frenzy of people wanting to join the Hate Dr. Kenny Club & that is their right."
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