Kids' dentist in California defends saying she cuts laughing gas of liberals as joke
A California pediatric dentist is under fire after joking about cutting the laughing gas of liberal patients in a resurfaced video. The video, that has since been taken down by the original poster but reshared online, shows Santa Clarita Dr. Harleen Grewal of Skyline Smiles at the Republican Liberty Gala in 2021, joking about treating her non-Trump supporting patients differently, the Los Angeles Times reported.
“I have a secret hat I use sometimes. It says, ‘Make your smile great again,’” Grewal said in the video. “I wear that when I work on my patients so when they look horrified or complain, I quietly cut back on the laughing gas and say, ‘You got this. It’s not as bad as you think it is.’”
She also shared how fewer liberal patients entered her office during the COVID-19 pandemic and she wished they continued to stay “home with their masks on,” the video shows.
Skylines Smiles and Grewal were awarded the title of Santa Clarita’s best kid dentist in 2022, 2023 and 2024, per the dental practice’s website.
“This recognition reflects Dr. Grewal’s dedication to creating a warm, fun, and trusted environment for children’s dental care,” the website said.
McClatchy News reached out to Grewal and the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department on Sept. 26 for a statement and was awaiting a response.
Grewal took to The Santa Clarita Valley Signal to defend her comments in a Sept. 9 opinion piece.
“The accusation? That I ‘torture’ patients who don’t share my political views. This ridiculous claim was pulled from a lighthearted joke I made during a speech at the Republican Liberty Gala. My words were twisted, and my career was targeted — but I didn’t back down,” she wrote.
This isn’t the first time Grewal has been under fire. An anonymous complaint was filed accusing her of “running an illegal ballot-harvesting operation,” she wrote.
As for the backlash she’s receiving, Grewal said, the attempt to cancel her wasn’t successful.
“This is what cancel culture looks like: targeted harassment of professionals, business owners and anyone who dares to think differently. But here’s the truth: It didn’t work,” she wrote.
Yelp users were quick to run to the review website to share their thoughts on the viral video, with one person saying, “Dental care by a dentist who acknowledges that she doesn’t control your pain based on your political party? How does she have a license to practice?”
“REVOKE HER LICENSE IMMEDIATELY,” another wrote.
“To put politics over your oath of care is abhorrent. Shame on you!!,” someone said.
Santa Clarita is about a 30-mile drive northwest from downtown Los Angeles.
This story was originally published September 26, 2025 at 12:31 PM with the headline "Kids' dentist in California defends saying she cuts laughing gas of liberals as joke."