Wall Street-run dentists are torturing little kids for money.

[Archae]

Isaac Gagnon stepped off the school bus sobbing last October and opened his mouth to show his mother where it hurt.

She saw steel crowns on two of the 4-year-old’s back teeth. A dentist’s statement in his backpack showed he had received two pulpotomies, or baby root canals, along with the crowns and 10 X-rays -- all while he was at school. Isaac, who suffers from seizures from a brain injury in infancy, didn’t need the work, according to his mother, Stacey Gagnon.

“I was absolutely horrified,” said Gagnon, of Camp Verde, Arizona. “I never gave them permission to drill into my son’s mouth. They did it for profit.”

Isaac’s case and others like it are under scrutiny by federal lawmakers and state regulators trying to determine whether a popular business model fueled by Wall Street money is soaking taxpayers and having a malign influence on dentistry.

http://crooksandliars.com/susie-madrak/wall-street-owned-dental-management-c

[KansDem]

1. WTF???

Isaac’s case and others like it are under scrutiny by federal lawmakers and state regulators trying to determine whether a popular business model fueled by Wall Street money is soaking taxpayers and having a malign influence on dentistry.

"Popular business model fueled by Wall Street money." That's a recipe for disaster!!!

[randome]

2. It doesn't matter what model they follow.

You can't perform a procedure on a child without a parent's permission. A lawsuit should be in the offing. There has to be more to the story than just this.

[KansDem]

20. "There has to be more to the story than just this."

Exactly. You would think the suits in the corner offices of Wall Street would know this with all their high-priced legal talent.

That makes this story so bizzare...

[dmr]

3. Looks like Medicaid fraud -

Taking advantage of Medicaid & the poor.

From the article:

Some of them have been riding a boom in Medicaid outlays on dentistry, which rose 63 percent to $7.4 billion between 2007 and 2010, outstripping the 4.9 percent growth in other dental spending. ReachOut and several of its private equity-backed rivals seek patients like Isaac Gagnon, who are covered by Medicaid, the federal-state insurance program for the poor and disabled.

On May 2, All Smiles Dental Center Inc., a management company owned by Chicago-based Valor Equity Partners, filed for bankruptcy protection. Its hand was forced in part by a Texas Medicaid action cutting off payment to some of its clinics because of allegedly “excessive” and “inappropriate” orthodontic care, according to an All Smiles executive’s affidavit included in the filing. All Smiles was part of a state audit in which 90 percent of Medicaid claims for orthodontic braces were found to be invalid because they weren’t medically needed, according to Christine Ellis, one of the auditors.

[RagAss]

4. Sounds like a "B" Movie plot...that ends with kids pissing on Dentist's graves.

[randome]

21. That sounds like a movie I'd go to see!

Thanks for the bizarre imagery!

[Texasgal]

5. This happens to older

folks too.

My father in law had all his teeth removed and then replaced with various spacers and screwed in plates. He had dementia and was blind. No one said anything, we only found out later. His teeth were not bad either.

[Archae]

6. I've always hated dentists, and always will.

When I was around 10, we went to a dentist who had equipment that was 20 or 30 years out of date.
Including his drill.

Only as an adult have I found dentists that actually were truthful and knew what the hell they were doing.
And have the gas!

But I still just can't stand dental work.

[cynatnite]

7. She didn't go with her son to the dentist?

This is awful and the dental office should be held accountable, but I can't help but wonder why she did not go with her 4 year old.

My kids never went without me. When they had work done, it was explained to me and I was shown the x-rays. I didn't always have to stay in the room. In fact, some offices preferred not to have the parent in the room.

Either way, I knew what was going to be done ahead of time and nothing was done without my expressed permission.

[barbtries]

8. he was at school

"She saw steel crowns on two of the 4-year-old’s back teeth. A dentist’s statement in his backpack showed he had received two pulpotomies, or baby root canals, along with the crowns and 10 X-rays -- all while he was at school."

the mother was outraged; she knew nothing until it was all over.

[cynatnite]

9. The dentist came to the school and just began working on the kid?

I'm trying to understand how a 4 year old gets this done without a parent's permission. I've worked in the medical field and we didn't even do a blood pressure on a child if we didn't have parental consent.

If that's what happened here then the school, the school district, the dentist, the office the dentist works with and the company that finances it all is responsible. Not to mention the fact that this is probably criminal assault and battery of a child...a felony.

[MineralMan]

11. Odds are that the parent signed some sort of blanket permission

which never got read. Schools do that kind of thing a lot.

[cynatnite]

12. I've raised 3 children

We've had them in a variety of schools. On occasion they would do strictly wellness checks. We signed permission slips for that. They would do basic dental exams, eye exams, check posture, weight, etc. No medical procedures at all.

We'd get a note suggesting the kids be taken to our family doctor or dentist. Not one of them ever did a medical procedure.

on edit: I read through the entire article. They've got witnesses to what happened to this child.

[MineralMan]

13. This school may have a healthcare program for Medicaid recipients,

where they provide basic medical care. The dental thing could be part of that. If that's the case, then I suspect parents have to sign a blanket permission slip to participate. I don't know for certain, but I can't imagine that anyone would to two crowns on a kid unless there was some sort of permission. It would be insane to do that.

So, even though I don't know for sure, I'm betting that mom signed something that allowed the school clinic to do some procedures.

[cynatnite]

16. She may not have considered they would this much work when she signed it...

I may not have either. We take it fore granted that they would do this kind of extreme work on a child without a parent present.

I read the rest of the article. A teacher's aide said they held the child down as he cried.

Every dentist I ever took my children to would never even consider doing this. One told me said it's not worth the trauma to a child. He said he'd rather give the child antibiotics, send them home, and reschedule for another time.

The bastard that did this at the least should see jail time, IMO.

[MineralMan]

18. There's no question that this was wrong to do.

That program is inventing work to increase Medicaid billings, and probably doing unnecessary work, too.

That dentist should have his or her license pulled, and the organization should be thoroughly investigated. No excuses for this kind of behavior.

[Brickbat]

15. A dental program aimed at low-income families comes to our school twice a school year.

It serves people regardless of need and provides cleanings and other preventive services. I can see parents seeing a flyer sent home and thinking, oh, this is like that other program, but maybe they'll actually fix the cavity that other dentist saw but I didn't have enough money to fix.

OTOH, I find it gross and sad that no teacher or school administrator stepped in and said, excuse me, WTF are you doing to that kid?

[Cleita]

10. Don't four year olds still have baby teeth?

I can't imagine what dental work couldn't wait until after he lost his baby teeth.

[bhikkhu]

14. Problems with pre-schooler's teeth has become more and more common

http://voices.yahoo.com/tooth-decay-problems-increasing-among-pre-schoolers-323954.html

Plenty of parents never look in their kid's mouth, and plenty of kids have bad diets and bad dental habits.

[PCIntern]

17. As a dentist,

I am appalled.

It is grossly negligent, inappropriate, amoral, and illegal to perform dental procedures upon a minor without direct consent of the parent with specificity of procedures listed verbally or in writing.

[CoffeeCat]

19. This is what happened to my children...

I took my children to an area dentist--a sweet woman who had a new, fancy practice. She was a recent dental-school grad. She seemed so kind.

She put four silver caps on my oldest child's teeth and two on my youngest child. My experience with her began to sour with each appointment. She treated me like a stage mom because I wanted to accompany my children (ages 4, 5) into the room and be there when they had their cavities filled and caps put on.

My intuition told me that something was just off, and when this dentist told me that my youngest had several MORE cavities that needed to be filled immediately--I decided to listen to my intuition. I told her that we would make an appointment after I checked my schedule.

Two weeks later, I called her office because I wanted to get a second opinion from another dentist. I requested that my daughter's files be sent to this other dentist. I was met with hostility and rudeness. I was told that I had to "settle up my bill" before the records could be released. This was bizarre. I had always paid my bills on time, but it took time for insurance to reconcile the bill and for the final bill to be sent to me. I hadn't even received a final bill yet.

I found this very odd. I told them that they needed to send those records over and that the other dentist would be waiting for them. I wasn't going to fight with these people.

I took my youngest to the new dentist--the one that supposedly had many cavities that had to be filled right now--because they were bad, deep cavities.

Guess what? The new dentist said that my daughter's x-rays were clean and that she had no cavities. Can you believe this?

It's been five years since this happened, and I still want to punch that dentist in the face. She put so many silver caps on my oldest child's teeth, and my youngest had two as well. She was about to put more on my youngest--until I stopped it.

So many people in our suburb think that this dentist is soooo sweet. I tell my friends what happened, but what else can a person do? I have a feeling that this freshly graduated "dentist" had high overhead from her finely detailed and decorated office--and probably student loans--and that she was performing unnecessary, expensive procedures to fund her job.

It's so very hard to watch your children get novocain, get their teeth drilled and be in pain. Now, I'll never know if any of it was for legitimate reasons.

That dentist may have a lot of people fooled, but I known what a dishonest, disgusting hack she is and if anyone ever comes forward or questions her--I will tell my story in a heartbeat.

[vincentomoh]

22. Post the name of the dentist

Please post the name of the dentist. You have the X-rays of all of them right?

[CoffeeCat]

24. Here's the problem...

I have my child's x-rays. I am sure that her current dentist has the dental records from the
dishonest dentist. However, I do not know if those records contain the dishonest dentist's
incorrect diagnosis. She verbally told me that my child had cavities. I do not know if she wrote
it in her file.

Therefore, I would have no proof. No evidence of my assertions. And this happened more than five years ago.

I hesitate to post her name, because I lack proof.

I do feel terrible about this. I feel that this dentist doesn't deserve to practice. She's a total fake. I do tell my friends about our experience. I will not hide what happened. However, publishing her name is probably not in my best interest.

If anyone else does come forward, I will be on it. I will back up anyone who comes forward.

I feel that I have to give myself points for listening to my gut and getting my children to safety. Always trust your motherly instincts and intuition--and that little voice that tells you that something is off. I will always regret not coming forward at the time, but it is what it is. Karma will come around for this dentist someday, I imagine.

[vincentomoh]

23. Also e-mail Dentist the Menace

Also I heard that the woman who runs the blog "Dentist the Menace" receives reports of dental fraud. Perhaps you want to contact heR?

[CoffeeCat]

25. Thanks for that resource...

I will check it out!