Ohio Dad, 48, Dies After Routine Dental Extraction

What was supposed to be a simple dental appointment ended in heartbreak for one Ohio family.

Matthew Miller, 48, walked into the Visage Surgical Institute in Medina in August 2023 to have three teeth extracted. His wife, Brandy Miller, and their youngest son waited outside, expecting the minor oral surgery to be over in no time.

Instead, their lives changed forever.

According to Brandy, the mood shifted when she checked in with the dentist, Dr. Faisal Quereshy, during the procedure.

“I said, ‘Hey doc, how’s he doing?’” she told Cleveland 19. “And he said, ‘Not good.’”

Brandy claims the dentist then told her that after administering sedation, her husband stopped breathing and his heart stopped. Paramedics were already working on him.

“I grabbed my son’s hand and said, ‘Pray, pray now,’” she recalled.

Matthew was rushed to a local hospital. Four days later, he was pronounced dead.

The Medina County Medical Examiner determined that he stopped breathing due to the sedation given during the procedure, according to documents obtained by local media.

The case quickly drew scrutiny from the Ohio State Dental Board. Hearing Examiner Celia Schnupp alleged that Dr. Quereshy failed to conduct a full medical evaluation before administering anesthesia and did not adequately monitor Miller during the surgery.

In a filmed 2025 deposition obtained by reporters, the dentist was asked if he would change anything about how he handled the case.

“No,” he said, adding that nothing in Miller’s evaluation suggested he was at higher risk for anesthesia in the office.

Dr. Quereshy’s attorney, Brian T. Gannon, later said he had advised his client not to comment publicly because of ongoing licensure proceedings and civil litigation.

In January, the Ohio State Dental Board recommended suspending the dentist’s license for six months to one year. The hearing examiner described the tragedy as an “isolated failure” and said there was no evidence of broader systemic issues that would justify permanently revoking his license.

For Brandy, that’s not enough.

“With everything that we’ve found, everything that the dental board has found, he should not be practicing,” she said. “Whatever we need to do to keep this from happening, I don’t want anybody to feel what I felt. I don’t want anybody to feel what my kids felt, losing their dad at such a young age.”

She has since filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Dr. Quereshy, seeking $25,000 in damages, according to Cuyahoga County Court records.

As for forgiveness?

“As a Christian, I’d want to say, ‘I forgive you,’” Brandy said. “But after seeing his deposition where he said, ‘I wouldn’t change anything,’ I’m not there yet. I’m not there yet.”

A routine dental visit. A devastated family. And a case that continues to raise difficult questions about sedation safety inside private practices.