Congressman Dennis Kucinich Call Small Smiles a Dental Mill

Congressman Dennis Kucinich said Small Smiles?FORBA had found way to make money off poor children by creating dental mills to make a buck while blasting Medicaid for not doing more to improve dental care for children on mediciad.

"Medicaid Officials in Congress [02/14/08]"
-----------------------------------------
Small Smiles - Congress

A year after 12-year -old Deamonte Driver died of tooth decay, Medicaid officials were called before congress in February to explain what they've done to improve access to care for poor children.

Four out of five dentists refuse to treat Medicaid patients because reimbursement rates are so low. The congressman heading up the hearing blasted Medicaid for doing little to improve rates.

He pointed to the I-Team's reports on Small Smiles Dental clinics as an example of what can result.

Congressman Dennis Kucinich said "Small Smiles conceived of another away to make a profit: a
predatory mill where multiple, sometimes unnecessary procedures are imposed assembly line style on children for little regard for their welfare or proper dental practice."

Medicaid officials told congress today they are trying to make more dentists available for poor children, but conceded they have a long way to go.

FORBA hires another PR Firm

It appears FORBA, LLC Dental Management aka Forba Holding, is scrambling to do as much damage control as possible in light of the disturbing allegations with it's Small Smiles Dental Clinics.

They have hired yet another public relations firm, in Nashville, TN. McNeely, Pigott & Fox.

Wonder if they fired Rubin, Meyer or they feel they need as many public relations firms as they can hire.

After Donald Meyer was the person who sent the response to WJLA TV when the I-Team Investigation report came out exposing how Small Smiles Dental Clinics were abusing our children and our medicaid program. You can download that statement here by clicking on Froba Dental Mngt. Statement.

Kiely's Dental Abuse Update 4

Bullhead City Lawyers!

March 4, 2008

What a joke!

I called so many of them and ALL of them TURNED ME DOWN! They either didn’t do anything with kids or they wouldn’t help us because she has “No permanent physical damage.” I even had one guy tell me that “we are a busy and big law firm and since it was just restraints with no physical damage besides the petechiae then we can’t help you and no other law office is going to.” What a dick he was! ugh.

I can’t believe there isn’t ONE lawyer in this area that will help CHILDREN that have been TORTURED and ABUSED!!!!!!! It’s ridiculous! Someone needs to stand up for kids.

Small Smiles-FORBA-DeRose Update From Roberta Baskin, WJLA TV

More Damning Evidence Keep Pouring In to I-Team Investigation.

Don't forget, even though this local investigation mentions Small Smiles, they go under the Name Smile Starters Smile High, Medicaid Dental Centers, FORBA, DeRose Children's Dental Center, Small Smiles Center/Clinic of Pueblo, and others. And if you read below in my previous post, more of these Dental Offices catering to children are jumping on this same bandwagon! Beware!

February 28, 2008

Roberta Baskin, of WJLA TV, broke and continues to follow the Small Smiles Dental Abuse and Fraud Investigation. Here is the transcript of Roberta’s latest installment.

ANCHOR:

RESTRAINING CHILDREN, PERFORMING UNNECESSARY TREATMENTS, HIRING UNLICENSED XRAY TECHNICIANS... THESE ARE ALL EXAMPLES OF THE SUB-STANDARD DENTAL CARE OUR I-TEAM FOUND AT THE SMALL SMILES CLINICS IN THE WASHINGTON DC AREA, AND ACROSS THE COUNTRY. WE'VE BEEN TELLING YOU HOW THE CHAIN OF CLINICS PLACES PROFIT OVER COMPASSIONATE CARE FOR MEDICAID CHILDREN. NOW ROBERTA BASKIN AND THE I-TEAM HAVE UNCOVERED MORE.... ROBERTA?

ROBERTA BASKIN:

SOME OF YOU WHO SAW OUR EARLIER REPORTS HAVE COME FORWARD WITH NEW EVIDENCE OF THE SMALL SMILES SCHEME TO BILL THE TAXPAYER-SUPPORTED MEDICAID PROGRAM FOR WORK THAT WASN'T NEEDED - OR WASN'T EVEN DONE.

STORY: Six year old Kayla Mason brushes her teeth day and night.



She's never had any cavities. That's why her mother, LaTasha Mason, was dismayed when dentists at Small Smiles in Oxon Hills said they found THREE.

LaTasha Mason-"I was like, oh my goodness, I was surprised, I really was. And they were like, well, the lady that called me back, she was like, well that's nothing compared to what we usually see."

She then had Kayla examined by a different dentist.

Mason-" And she gets up to leave and I'm like , well, what about the cavities?"

Turns out, there weren't any.

Mason-"I was really astonished, to say the least."

Mason is upset Small Smiles planned to drill into her daughter's teeth for no other reason than to profit from it.

Mason- "It's, it's just sickening." "(that's) the only thing I can think of, why they would want to drill in these baby's mouths, is for money."

Particularly upsetting is her feeling that Small Smiles lied to her.

Mason- "One maybe, that could have been an honest mistake. But three? Absolutely not. Three is not a mistake, I'm sorry."

And when this family went to Small Smiles for a check-up, dentists saw four girls - and apparently 24 cavities.

Cheryl -" I felt like a bad mother." Cheryl assumed her children hadn't been brushing.

Roberta -"Were you in trouble?"

Rachelle -"Yes"

Cheryl -"I told them all of their teeth were going to fall out if they don't listen to me and brush their teeth. I called them "yuck mouths."

Roberta -"Yuck mouths?

Cheryl-"Yuck mouths."
Most of the work was completed, except on Rachel, who was told to come back for several more fillings. In the meantime, Rachel's mom heard about our Small Smiles investigation, and switched to Dr. Robert Camps.

Dr. Robert Camps - "I'm glad it wasn't done, because it shouldn't have been done. Roberta -"Four fillings that she would have gotten on teeth that are perfectly fine."

Dr. Camps -"Correct."

And that's not all. When Dr. Camps examined Rachel and her sister Rebecca, he realized - Small Smiles didn't DO all the work they charged for.

Rebecca's chart shows 8 cavities filled…but that's not what she remembered. "I didn't see any drill or hear any drill.

Roberta -Did they numb you?

Rebecca -"I didn't feel a numbing (or anything)."

And Dr. Robert Camps didn't see the work either. "these are not fillings." "I feel like they did more like a sealant, (where they didn't really drill into the tooth)." To be sure, Dr. Camp took x-rays.

Plea from I-Team, asking the public to keep the stories coming I, please help I-Team help the children. You are the eyes and ears! click here

ABC 7, WJLA TV is in the Washington, DC area, so all of our law makers watch this news.

Report by phone at 703-236-9559

Update 2 and 3 Kiely and Dr. Mike Kort-Kids Little Smiles

February 29, 2008 (Update 3)

We called the police last night and filed a report. The officer said to get a lawyer and go to the dental board because they can do more damage then he could. I already had the papers to file a formal complaint with the dental association board. I’ll be filling that out today. I will keep my blog updated with any and all progress!

Read more here along with comments:

February 28, 2008 (Update 2)

So my dad and I went to the dentist office at 11 to talk to Dr. Kort. He said that Kiely was really worked up so they had to restrain her by having 2 nurses hold her down but otherwise she did really well. So we talked about the petechia a bit and he said it’s from her “fussing” during the procedure. Then we asked about the “blue jacket” [Kie’s words] and told him that she has brought it up 3-4 times now and she’s sticking to her story. So he fessed up that they had to use restraints on her [called a popuse]. I told him that I never gave consent to restrain her. He said that the nurse wrote it down that it was ok so he did. I told him again that it was NEVER mentioned to me and that I would NEVER consent to anyone restraining my kid! My mom was with me yday when I asked them what was going to happen and not ONCE did she mention restraints of any kind. He said that it could’ve been mentioned about wrapping them or something and I again told him NO, nothing like that was mentioned to me! My mom verifies it was not mentioned. He told me that they use the popuse to protect the kids while he works since he has needles and drills going he doesn’t want them to get hurt. I feel that there is a better way then restraining a child w/o the parents consent! At least let the parents try to calm the child. Then I told him that I did not appreciate his staff writing me off and ignoring my concerns. Telling me that the petechia was a latex allergy and then taking her in the back and coming back saying that he told her it was just a latex allergy. And then to ignore my concerns when it got worse an hour later. He told me that he was sorry that I felt that I was written off and that we had such a bad experience and I was free to take her somewhere else. He also said that he knew it wasn’t a latex allergy because it was only around her eyes.
I feel that he has no idea what he’s talking about. His staff lied to both of us or at least me. And it’s just wrong.

Kids Little Smiles, Bullhead Arizona Another Dental Torture Chamber

Here is a story of Kiely. A child who visited Kids Little Smiles Dentistry For Children, Bullhead, AZ.

I don't know if Kids Little Smiles is another one of FORBA/Araptica Bank's torture chambers but if it walks like a duck, it could be one. However, it could be just another dental chop shop for children that has found a way to actually make money torturing children.


Kiely's Trauma Story at the hands of the dentist, Dr. Mike Kort pictured above:

On 02/27/08 Kiely had a dentist appt with Dr. Michael Kort with Kool Lil Smiles Dentistry for kids on Miracle mile.
When the nurse came to get Kiely and take her back Kiely wanted me to go but the nurse said that she had to try and go w/o me and told her “I will come and get mom in a minute if you still want her.” Well she never came back to get me.

When Kiely came out from her procedure she was dripping sweat, her eyes were swollen and she had these small red dots all over them. The nurse said “She had a little bit of a hard time.” She also said “we gave her the nitros but she didn’t like it so we gave her some oxygen to flush it out of her system.” I asked what was wrong w/her eyes and the nurse told me she will take her back and call me in to talk to the dentist in a minute, well she only took Kiely back and came back a second later and said that the Dr said it’s a Latex allergy but they think it might be from the nitros mask. I told them “She doesn’t have a latex allergy.” The dentist wouldn’t come talk to me.
They told me to watch it and if it gets worse to let them know. So I called them about an hour later b/c her right eye was turning blue and bruising and the dots traveled to behind her ear and her eyes were still swollen. The same nurse then told me “It’s just a latex allergy and it’ll go away.” I asked if I could speak or come and see the Dr and she told me “He already left for the day but if it is still there in the morning to bring her in and we will treat her as an emergency.” I asked if I should be giving her some benadryl since it’s an allergy and she said “I can’t give you that kind of advice but if you feel you need to.”

So I hung up and I did NOT give her any medication except the tylenol w/codeine for her pain. So I took her to BHCFD [since my dad is a captain there and he was on duty]. I had 4 paramedics tell me it’s petichiae from someone putting too much pressure on her face [they see this in the ER when a child had been suffocated w/a pillow]. So then we are eating dinner and she starts telling us that they were ignoring her when she told them it hurt [when they were drilling] and that when she asked them to get me they ignored her again! Then she told us that they didn’t put a mask on her but they put a white jacket that held her arms down. And that it hurt her and she was scared.

The nurse did NOT tell me nor did they ask me if they could use this type of treatment on my child. Even after the fact they didn’t tell me. So this morning [2/28/08] after She woke up I took her straight to her pediatrician [Dr. Nalia Tariq].
She confirmed that it was petechia from too much pressure. But she thinks it’s from the jacket b/c Kiely was trying to get out of it and freaking out. So I went to the dentist office and got copies of all her medical records and consent forms. They are useless and don’t say a thing. So I asked if I could talk to the dentist and they said he isn’t in yet and won’t be until 1030 but I could come back at 11 and he should have a few minutes to talk to me. So i will be leaving in a few minutes.

Ca Ching!

I would suspect since Dr. Charles Lucero and Dr. Nate Urquhart work there they would be guilty of this type of treatment as well or they wouldn't be working there.


My heart goes out to Kiely and her family and I'm so sorry she had to suffer like this at the hands of a dentist. I hope that Kiely's parents file formal complaints with the following and join in the movement to put an end to this:

The Arizona Attorney General
The Better Business Bureau In Arizona
The Dental Association of Arizona
And File a Police Report!

I also hope that Dr. Nalia Tariq, who examined Kiely after this event files a complaint.

Here is the contact information for Kids Little Smiles
Kids Little Smiles
2401 S Miracle Mile
Bullhead City, AZ 86442
(928) 704-5573
kidslittlesmiles_bullhead@frontiernet.net

Before You Take You Child To The Dentist, Read This Site

Parents trust medical personnel way too easily. We are somehow assume they must know more than us because they've spent so much time in school, and that is one of the largest mistakes we make. Of course put anyone in a white coat or any kind of uniform and the general public naturally look to those people as being someone in authority, that's why they wear the uniform in the first place. But just because they have a white coats on or any uniform does not mean they know what is best for you, your family or your child!

We have to have a mindset that we are a consumer of their goods. It's imperative!


My son's further explanation sums up what you said about us trusting the professionals.

Here is what he said:

"If they don't tell you there are any other options for the procedure , you go with what the people that are supposed to know what they are doing make the recommendations"

I'm sorry, that still doesn't wash with me. Maybe I'm just too hard, all I know is I would NEVER agree to this so I say:

1.Why don't you ask?
2.Surely anyone with any common sense whatsoever would NOT allow their child to be traumatized.
3.Get your brain out of your pocket and use it!

Of course after they still could not complete the crowns on the baby teeth cause my grandson was fighting for his life, thrashing about and screaming for dear life, they weren't able to do it and then and only then did the dentist suggest putting him under a light sedation and doing it at another time.

So just how bad did this need to be done then? Evidently not that bad, and it most certainly wasn't an emergency situation.

I can't tell you the tears I've cried picturing this trauma happening to my grandson. It was out of this rage and heartbreak I've taken up this cause I will see as much information is out there as possible to save as many children from this as I can.

Spreading the word and bringing this to the forefront on every parent who has a child is the only way this is going to end.

In Europe this is outlawed in many countries and I can't believe it's happening right here in the US to the most innocent of our citizens.

Children depend on us, the parents and grandparent to protect them, it's out JOB. Imagine how any child who has suffered this trauma feels now, and what scars will each of these children carry with them into the future.

You can help by doing exactly what I'm doing. Writing about it, contacting Federal and State Legislators, and exposing dentists who use these papoose boards.

My next step is to call dentists my area of the country, asking what kind of behavior control they use to treat our children, and if they mention a papoose board, pediwrap, or any other kind of restraint, their name, address and phone number will be appearing on my site and other sites on the internet where you can write reviews, and there are a bunch of those!

This has been every time consuming since I'm pretty much at this alone, but I feel it's worth every second of my time and your help is more appreciated that you will ever know.

There are laws out there that protect our elderly from unnecessary and abusive restraining but nothing protecting our children. So far, Colorado is the only state who has stepped up and given the dental community there very "strict" guidelines. However, if the parents of Colorado don't know about this, and don't question their dentists, I feel the dentists will continue to strap children down to speed up the "chair time".

During my research of the use of Papoose Boards is when I found all the information of these "dental mills" that are setting up in low income areas and bilking our medicaid systems for millions and millions of dollars, at the expense of the mental health of our nations children. They decorate the offices to be "kid friendly" which in my opinion misrepresents the clinics as employing "Pediatric Dentists" when in fact few have spent the two extra years training to treat the little ones.

They get away with it by stating under their kid friendly signage "General Dentistry For Kids". The key word being "General Dentistry".
In my opinion this is misleading to parents.

Another way dentist get away with strapping children down in the "blanket" treatment consent form. Parents need to read those forms over very carefully. You may very well be consenting to torture of your children by the "Professionals".

Consumers must be aware at all times! I also worry about these dental buses that come to schools to treat children who are on public assistance. We know the parents are not present when this happens, and surely a consent for treatment form was sent home for parents to sign.

Lord knows what they agreed to, and in you don't know what a Papoose Board is, or a Pediwrap or Rainbow wrap is, (they sound so warm and fuzzy don't they) of course parents are going to sign it. After all these parents are excited and thankful, little Johnny and little Sally are going to get the much needed dental treatment they probably need.

Is Ocean Dental Another Small Smiles?

Well, this particular blogger doesn't know too much about Ocean Dental at this point other than the small bits I've posted. What I do know is they have entered an industry riddled with bad press, bad reviews, serious child abuse accusations, and federal fraud accusations.

So what can they expect really?

If they are on the up and up and have very clear guidelines and have set the highest degrees of standards of care it will still take them decades to shake the stigma brought on by the DeRose Family of Dental Clinics, namely Small Smiles, Smile High, SmileStarters, Carolina Dental Center, DeRose Dental Center, Medicaid Dental Center, Kool Smiles and the various other names in which the DeRose's carry on business.

Dentists throughout the land should be furious about this black eye the DeRose's have bestowed upon them. However, all dentists bare some responsibility in this.

If not for private pay dentists failure to accept mediciad patients, the DeRose's would not have had the door opened quite as wide for them to stroll through now would they?

I say that Ocean Dental has a very long and hard road ahead of them before they can even come close to calling their venture into treating medicaid patients a success.

As of right now there are more mediciad dental treatment clinics cropping up than Starbucks. One one street in any given poor community there could be a Small Smiles on one corner, a Kool Smiles on the next and Ocean Dental on the other. Worse the Rite Aid and CVS. These clinics are popping quicker than mushrooms after a spring rain.

Arcapita Bank Only Owns Tangible Assets of Forba

First just let me say this is going to be one confusing post but it's needed to lay the ground work for more posts to come.
Let's look at Arcapita Bank, formerly known as First Islamic Bank. It has several holdings here in the US including Church's Chicken, PODS, Caribou Coffee and Forba/Small Smiles.
Cresent Capital, based in Atlanta is a subsidiary of Arcapita Bank.
While foreign ownership of U.S. businesses is nothing new, the bank is paving some new ground by choosing its investments according to Islamic religious law, known as Sharia.
Because of religious law, the bank also avoids charging or paying interest. So, instead of operating like a traditional bank, Arcapita collects money for long-term investments and follows some creative methods to get a profitable return.
Use a leasing type structure the companies they acquire will sell its buildings and machinery to the bank [and] the bank will lease those assets back to the company. So, instead of interest payments, you have rental payments. Now we don't know which buildings Arcapita owns or what machinery but this is the way they invest in American companies.
Basically Forba/Small Smiles pays Arcapita rental payments every month while still actually owning the actual company, Forba. So Dan, Michael, Eddie, and Mike Roumph, Dan's partner in crime still own, always have owned Forba Small Smiles.
Here is one commentary on how this bank operates:

SHAUNTI FELDHAHN (COMMENTARY):
At first glance, companies practicing Muslim Shariah look like a conservative investor's dream -- establishments that family-oriented consumers would want to support. Companies following Shariah avoid gambling, porn and alcoholic businesses, will not charge interest and will not try to produce extreme profits. One giant Bahrain-based financial holding company that follows Shariah, until recently named the First Islamic Investment Bank (now called Arcapita), is the largest Middle East-based investment firm in the U.S. Caribou Coffee, PODS and Church's Chicken are just three of its many holdings.
The problem comes when you realize that Shariah is an all-encompassing ideology that many adherents believe should not and cannot be limited just to business. In many countries, its personal application leads to terrible human-rights violations, such as men being allowed to beat and subjugate their wives, authorities cutting off hands for stealing, and so on.
Oil-cash-rich Middle Eastern companies are investing in the U.S. and elsewhere at a record pace. Many practice the business form of Shariah. But when you and I patronize those businesses, where do our dollars actually go?
Arcapita's Web site forthrightly explains that 81 percent of the organization "is held by over 255 prominent individuals and institutions mostly from the Arabian Gulf region." This means that a huge percentage of the profit of this massive company go to 255 wealthy, influential Middle Eastern groups and individuals. And history has shown that they aren't always people with human rights or American interests at heart. In 2002 Arcapita power-broker Yusuf Al-Qaradawi defended the bloody acts of Palestinian terrorists by commending "our brothers and children in Al-Aqsa and the blessed land of Palestine generously sacrificing their blood, giving their souls willingly in the way of Allah." He later stepped down.
I have always loved Caribou Coffee, but as I walked by one recently, I hesitated to go in. I'm really not sure that the 255 Middle Eastern investors that own most of it have our national values or interests at heart. And if they fervently support business Shariah, it seems highly likely that some of them use their wealth and influence to spread family Shariah as well. When there is a choice of coffee shops, do I really want to support all that with my own money?

Dr. Melanie Abrams

I guess since FORBA/Small Smiles really shouldn't even be open in Kentucky. Are they doing like they are doing in Kansas and saying the dentist at the clinic, Melanie Abrams is the owner of the clinic? Anyone who has a brain knows that simply isn't the case. Either way, as with most dentists associated with Small Smiles who have been named here, their family come avisitin' this site. Evidently she had family in Owensboro, Kentucky who are concerned Melanie may be in a bit over her head perhaps.

In fact, I would be money if you got your hands on a company directory at the headquarters it would list Kansas offices as well as Kentucky offices, anyone got one I could take a sneak peek at...LOL?

Name:

MELANIE ABRAMS

Address:

SMALL SMILES OF LOUISVILLE

Address 2:

3438 TAYLOR BLVD

City, State, Zip:

LOUISVILLE KY 40215

Phone:

502/366-4442

License:

8374

License Issue Date:

5/30/2006 0:00:00

License Expire Date:

12/31/2009 0:00:00

Practice Type:

GENERAL DENTIST

Michael A. DeRose is MAD

This is for those who are suing Michael A. DeRose.
There is another company owned by him along with Clint and Craig DeRose (his sons I'm guessing).
It's called MAD Family, LLC (Michael A. DeRose). At one time MAD, LLC and Gwyn and Tony, LLC (who the heck ever they are) were in business together buying home across Pueblo.

(I think this brings the total of different companies Michael DeRose is owns or is associated with up to 29 or 30, I've really lost count)

If you go here, agree to the terms and search MAD Family, LLC or MAD, LLC a whole list of properties will pop up. It's almost shocking. There are 42 of them totaling $7,015,800.

Once again this shows the life style this dentist lives. How many dentists do you know that live like this? None that aren't either in or headed to jail.

DeRose Padula Enterprises

It appears the DeRose Dental Conglomerate has yet another couple of names to add to the ever growing cauldron. First there is DeRose Padula Enterprises, LLC, a dental clinic located at 1560 Bonforte Blvd, Pueblo, CO, valued at $141096. They've had this property for several years and I'm not sure what name this clinic actually goes by, other than it's owned by DeRose Padula Enterprises, LLC with consists of Ed DeRose, Neta DeRose, and Adolph Padula, well you can see for yourself by clicking here.

Then there is another building said to be a dental clinic, was a church at one time, located at 1022 Liberty, Lane, Pueblo valued at close to 1/2 million dollars. This one is owned by DeRose Padula Enterprises (no LLC). You can look at it for yourself by clicking here.