Dental Practice Targets Children Across the Country in Medicaid Scam

Years ago, a nationwide dental practice, Kool Smiles, agreed to pay $23.9 million to the United States under the False Claims Act for Medicaid fraud allegations. The dental practice had been falsely diagnosing children with issues requiring crowns and “baby” root canals in order to bill Medicaid programs for the unnecessary procedures.

You would think that almost $24 million would be enough for the company to learn from their mistakes and correct this behavior, right? Wrong. Instead, Kool Smiles seems to have adopted more of a refine through trial-and-error approach.

It appears that Kool Smiles is back at it. The company has “reorganized” and now operates various clinics under different names across the country. Once again, providers at these locations are intentionally misdiagnosing children insured by Medicaid and encouraging families to have those children undergo unnecessary and sometimes harmful dental procedures.

As an experienced medical malpractice firm, we know that one of the most frustrating legal realities is that there is a strict time limit on filing a lawsuit where dental malpractice has caused harm, whether the harm has been exposed or not. We also know that one of the most important ways to fight scams like this is to raise awareness in communities where the practices are hiding, especially when the practices have learned to hide so effectively.

Some of the dental clinics under the Kool Smiles umbrella that may be carrying out these scams include several Virginia locations under the name of Pine Dentistry. However, Kool Smiles’ reach is not limited to Virginia. The practice extends to several states where our federal practice under the FTCA often takes us, including Courtland Dental in Massachusetts, Pippin Dental in Indiana, Elstar, Pinova, and Jubilee Dental in Texas, Creston Dental in South Carolina, Sutton Dental in Connecticut, Taylor Dental in Louisiana, Ruby Dental in Kentucky, and Dorsett Dental in Arizona. You can check if a practice you are familiar with is affiliated with Kool Smiles in each state at this link: https://www.mykoolsmiles.com/find-a-location/

If you are aware of anyone who has taken their children for dental care at these dental practices, please tell them to pay close attention to the care these providers are recommending and to get a second opinion before proceeding if possible.

If anyone suspects that their child may have received a false diagnosis and underwent an unnecessary dental procedure as a result, at these locations or at any other potentially Kool Smiles affiliated practice, reach out to us. If there is a viable claim for malpractice, we will make sure it goes to a firm that can properly investigate and handle it before it’s too late.