Smile Starters Dental, formerly Medicaid Dental Center (MDC), is a chain of dental clinics in North Carolina. As MDC, it operated under the names Smile Starters and Carolina Dental Center.Beeker, Ladonna. Dentist closes clinic " Archive '' The Observer News Enterprise''. May 31, 2011. Retrieved on May 15, 2013. Historically, its owners were Letitia L. "Tish" Ballance of Charlotte, North Carolina and Michael DeRose of Pueblo, Colorado. DeRose was also a partner in FORBA, the company that owns the
Small Smiles Dental Centers
Small Smiles Dental Centers was a privately-owned US chain of dental clinics focused on serving children from low-income families. The parent company, Church Street Health Management (CSHM), has its headquarters in Suite 520 of the Castner-Knott ...
In 2003, WCNC-TV NewsChannel 36 I-Team aired a report showing children and parents alleging that MDC clinics had given unnecessary treatment. The news channel report stated that dentists at the chain were paid bonuses for the amount of dental work that was performed, and that the clinics of the chain separated children from parents and had performed unnecessary dental work. In 2005 the
North Carolina State Board of Dental Examiners
The North Carolina State Board of Dental Examiners is an agency of the Government of North Carolina. Its purpose is to regulate the dental industry in the state. Its headquarters are in Morrisville in the Research Triangle area.United States Department of Justice (USDOJ), MDC and its two owners reached a settlement with the USDOJ. The company paid back $5 million and added $5 million in fines. The chain did not admit to any wrongdoing. Ballance and DeRose were personally liable under the False Claims Act because they submitted claims for reimbursement that involved performing unnecessary pulpotomies (colloquially "baby root canals").
In 2008 one patient who had received fourteen pulpotomies in one sitting sued the chain. In 2010 the chain announced that it would pay back $24 million. By that year, one family suing the chain had settled its civil suit. On April 11, 2011 Ballance announced that her business, Carolina West Dental in Conover, North Carolina, would close on April 15. She left
Catawba County
Catawba County is a County (United States), county in the U.S. state of North Carolina. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 160,610. Its county seat is Newton, North Carolina, Newton, and its largest city is Hick ...
Charlotte Observer
''The Charlotte Observer'' is an American English-language newspaper serving Charlotte, North Carolina, and its metro area. The Observer was founded in 1886. As of 2020, it has the second-largest circulation of any newspaper in the Carolinas. I ...
''. April 11, 2008. 1A Main. Retrieved on May 15, 2013.
Rafael Rivera, Jr. said that he bought Smile Starters in 2008. The company changed its name to Smile Starters. In 2013 a mother of three children accused a Smile Starters clinic of fraudulently diagnosing cavities on her children. The television station '' WTVD'' aired a report about the accusation.Are some dentists doing unnecessary procedures? " '' WTVD'' 11 Eyewitness News. Retrieved on May 15, 2013. (Owner information begins at 5:35)
ReachOut Healthcare America
ReachOut Healthcare America (RHA) is a dental management services company with its headquarters in Farmington Hills, Michigan. It is a part of the private equity portfolio of Morgan Stanley. The company operates in 22 U.S. states. In 2011 the com ...