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By RUSS BUETTNER NY Daily News Staff Writer Despite the tremendous attention devoted to his death, the final agonies endured by John Gotti remain cloaked in mystery. Prison officials long refused to discuss Gotti's condition, citing patient privacy. And autopsy findings remain tightly held. In fact, most of what's known came from the mouths of Gotti loyalists, always eager to build up Gotti's legend as a lion-hearted man of courage. Those same friends and family now hint they are pondering a legal action accusing the federal prison system of providing Gotti with shoddy medical care. In 1998, Gotti was diagnosed with the head and neck cancer that eventually ended his life on June 10 at age 61. There are suggestions that the once barrel-chested Gotti weighed barely 100 pounds, possibly with chunks of his jaw and throat gone. The ravages of cancer and chemotherapy and more than a year of being fed through tubes no doubt left their mark on the handsome Don. But his family has been tight-lipped about the toll it all took. Lewis Kasman, who describes himself as an unofficially adopted son of Gotti's, has railed against Gotti's medical care. Family members have alleged that infections were allowed to fester around Gotti's dental implants, possibly leading to the cancer. It's disgraceful, Kasman told the Springfield (Mo.) News-Leader shortly after Gotti's death. All I can tell you is, it's disgraceful. Cancer experts told the Daily News it's difficult to assess the family's charge. But in general, experts said it's highly unlikely an infection around dental implants could cause cancer. Dental implants would have no connection with these tumors, said one oncologist. The family will have no support for their allegations. What is not in doubt is that the type of implants Gotti received have caused painful complications for many. Around 1988, after losing several teeth, Gotti tired of dentures and had permanent implants surgically installed and his remaining teeth capped. Dr. Leonard _link_ow received custom suit from Gotti as show of gratitude.   For the hardest part of the procedure, the Gambino Godfather was referred to a dentist known as the Father of Implants. He visited the E. 50th St. offices of Dr. Leonard _link_ow, a frank-talking New Yorker with a shock of white hair. _link_ow had been famous among dentists worldwide since the late 1960s, when he introduced a new type of implant as an alternative to dentures. _link_ow's invention involved carving a groove in the jaw bone and tapping in a _meta_l blade. Once the jaw and gums healed, _link_ow attached artificial teeth to posts rising from the blades. It was a ground-breaking development that revolutionized the world of false teeth. A professorship was created in his name at the New York University College of Dentistry. A street in Germany was named after him. He spoke at dental seminars worldwide. But like many medical advances, problems arose. .   The blades were difficult to install. Infections could develop. Openings could grow between the patient's mouth and nasal cavity. Most seriously, jaw bones didn't always grow tightly around the blades, leaving the implants loose and leading to bone deterioration. Dentistry overwhelmingly left behind _link_ow's blade implants in favor of other types. But _link_ow persisted. Malpractice suits followed. Between 1988 and 1998, 18 patients sued _link_ow for malpractice. Records showed _link_ow had paid $1.7 million to settle 15 cases. That record earned him a spot in The News' investigation, published in March 2000, that revealed New York's most sued medical practitioners. Since then, eight more malpractice suits have been filed against _link_ow, court records show. _link_ow denied wrongdoing in all the suits. He said the problems represented a tiny percentage of the 19,000 implants he has successfully installed. And he says Gotti not only remained loyal to him but also sought his care while in prison. I know he's a killer and everything else, but in the office he was a dream to everybody, _link_ow recently told The News. He used to give the girls flowers and money for lunch. He was a real gentleman up there. When he first went to _link_ow, Gotti still had his six front upper teeth, but his upper jaw was gums behind his eye teeth. _link_ow installed a blade implant at the back of each side and built a bridge across the entire upper jaw, including caps on the Don's famous front teeth. He was very happy with it, he was really thrilled with it, _link_ow said. As a show of gratitude, Gotti wanted to have a custom suit made for _link_ow. The offer came via Jack (The Nose) D'Amico, one of Gotti's closest associates. I said, 'No, no, I got plenty of suits, and I don't have enough time in the world to wear the suit,' _link_ow said. But D'Amico insisted, repeatedly, until _link_ow recognized it was an offer he couldn't refuse. He kept saying, 'But John wants you to get the suits,' _link_ow said. So I finally got the suit. And I tell you, that suit will stop bullets. Other Gotti associates also got new grins from _link_ow, including Salvatore (Sammy Bull) Gravano, the mob turncoat who eventually made charges stick to the Teflon Don. Gotti continued to visit _link_ow for regular cleanings and treatment of infections until his conviction in 1992. _link_ow said he heard updates from Gotti associates that the Don's dental care in prison wasn't up to snuff. Implants require regular cleaning to prevent infections. Then, in 1996, an attorney called and said Gotti had requested _link_ow's presence. She said, 'Dr. _link_ow would you please be kind enough to go to Illinois? He's having a lot of trouble with his lower teeth and implants, and he wants you to come down,' _link_ow recalled. I said I certainly will come down. But soon after, another Gotti lawyer notified _link_ow that prison officials had denied the request. Instead, their dentists planned to remove all of Gotti's lower teeth, implants and all, and give him dentures. _link_ow said putting lower dentures against Gotti's upper teeth put those teeth at risk, too. He could not wear that lower denture, _link_ow said. It was impossible for him to wear it. So he was miserable, of course. He couldn't even eat. _link_ow said the lower denture could have loosened the upper implants and bridges. As they loosen up, the jawbone recedes, and then they start moving, he said. The result could have been a wasting jawbone that left Gotti's face deformed. Maurice Edwards, a Manhattan oral and maxillofacial surgeon, has treated former _link_ow patients, including a woman whose lower face collapsed inward from the bone loss. Everything from her eyes down had that sunken-in look, Edwards said. She looks almost like she's malnourished, the way her face sinks in. The woman had endured years of pain. She lost weight because eating had become agonizing. She developed chronic infections and raw openings between her nose and mouth. You could actually look into her mouth and see her sinuses, Edwards said. If Gotti's condition followed suit, all the bone loss could have left the hard-nosed Don with a glass jaw. Just normal chewing forces could actually break the jaw, Edwards said. Then, it generally doesn't heal right, causing further deformity. _link_ow blames prison dentists. They didn't care for him whatsoever, they were neglecting him terribly, he said. He was a killer and everything else, but he was still en_title_d to some kind of treatment over there. Shortly after Gotti died, Kasman told the Springfield newspaper he would ask for congressional hearings into the federal prison medical center in Springfield. But contacted by The News, he refused to discuss the topic. All I can say is that all avenues are being pursued, Kasman said. SEND EMAIL TO This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it AGC FAQ and FUN STUFF http://www.dreamwater.net/agc/mainpages/agcfaq.html BLIND ITEM REHASH: http://www.dreamwater.net/agc/blinditems/mainpage.html