After newborn dies following procedure, Montreal dentist pleads not guilty to disciplinary charges

According to his parents, Jules Beauchemin was a happy and healthy baby.

“On June 28th, he was four weeks old, and we lived a happy life,” said his father, Nicolas Beauchemin.

Beauchemin’s baby died minutes after what he and the baby’s mother thought was a minor operation, and they have brought disciplinary charges against dentist Marie-Eve Gregoire.

Gregoire has pleaded not guilty to professional misconduct charges.

Beauchemin said that in June 2023, they took Jules to Gregoire’s office to learn more about a procedure to fix a slight tongue tie.

There, the couple was told by Marie-Ève Sturrock, who said she was a lactation consultant with the clinic, that a simple surgery called a frenotomy would help with breastfeeding, language development and social skills later in life.

“Everything that she told us made it like it was the best decision to go forward with this procedure,” said Beauchemin.

Beauchemin said that after the procedure, things went horribly wrong.

“As soon as the surgery finished, I handed my son to my wife, and things went badly from there,” he said. “His cries were different, and he stopped breathing, and, shortly after we were escorted to the hospital where … he died."

Gregoire is facing six disciplinary charges, including recommending the procedure without complete knowledge of the facts, failure to fully inform the parents by providing information on the procedure’s risks and benefits, and allowing Sturrock — a non-member of the order — to prescribe the frenotomy.

Gregoire did not speak to the media outside of the hearing.

Beauchemin said that by bringing the complaint, the family hopes to raise awareness.

“The whole point of it is to give information to the public, to other parents to shed light on this issue, so that no other parents would have to live what we lived, and professionals can talk about it and question themselves,” he said.

Dr. Sam Daniel, chief of surgery at the Montreal Children’s Hospital, said frenotomies are common and typically very safe.

“What the literature shows is there has been an increase in the number of these procedures, particularly in the U.S. and Canada,” he said.

Daniel said he has never heard of a patient dying.

“Definitely worth asking ourselves questions in terms of how frequent it is and for parents to explore indications before jumping into this,” he said.

A separate coroner’s investigation is also underway to determine the exact causes of baby Jules’ death.