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

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