Remember Allcare Dental?

With corporate dentistry taking over the world, it’s good to remember Allcare who closed it’s doors overnight in January 2011 leaving patients without care or recourse, and dental boards scratching their..uh.…heads.

A class action lawsuit was filed and just like the Allcare’s doors, patients were left lock-jawed.

Allcare Dental Class Action Lawsuit

The Allcare companies filed for bankruptcy in the Western District of New York (Buffalo), Bankruptcy Petition #: 1-11-13848-CLB.  Those proceedings terminated in 2013 with a report of no distribution.  As such, there are no available assets from these entities for unsecured creditors.

You may have individual claims.  Once the class action claims are dismissed, the statute of limitations for your claims will continue to run.  You should contact an individual attorney in your state if you desire individual representation.  Failure to file within the applicable statute of limitations will forever bar your claims.  We are not handling these claims given the no-distribution report.

http://www.allcaredentalclassaction.com/uploads/Allcare-Dental-Class-Action-Complaint-filed-2-7-2011.PDF

Allcare patient speaks about ordeal in 2012.

http://www.abc57.com/home/top-stories/ALLCARE-DENTAL--162156285.html

Indiana taxpayers pick up the tab for shafted Allcare Dental patients

Customers of Allcare Dental get money back

Updated: Thursday, January 16, 2014, 12:09 PM EST

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) - Many patients who lost money when a dental business closed its doors without notice got some of their money back, Indiana Attorney General Greg Zoeller announced Thursday.

Allcare Dental closed in 2011, leaving customers in Avon, Evansville, Fort Wayne, Indianapolis, Lafayette, Mishawaka and Muncie without a provider and with a lot of questions.

The dental company declared bankruptcy. Eventually, the nearly 300 customers who filed complaints in Indiana received some or all of their money back. The patients lost anywhere from $69 to $9,125 but the state could only pay back a maximum of $3,000 per person by state statute.

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Wonder if Greg is related to Linda Zoeller of Small Smiles fame?

Indiana AG filed complaint against Allcare Dental and Dentures

 

Complaint filed against Allcare Dental & Dentures

Jul 06, 2012 WNDU.com

The Indiana attorney general's office has filed an administrative complaint against Allcare Dental & Dentures President Robert Bates for multiple licensing violations.

In January of last year, Allcare Dental & Dentures, which is a national chain of dentist offices, abruptly closed its locations including one in Mishawaka.

According to the complaint filed before the Indiana State Board of Dentistry, the president gave a two-day notice to his Indiana employees that offices would close for two weeks.

Days before the offices were supposed to re-open, he notified his workers that the offices would be closed permanently.

Indiana's attorney general says patients were left without their dentist, their records, dental devices and did not get a refund.

The Indiana State Board of Dentistry will decide if a violation occurred and if so, what disciplinary action there will be.

The board is tentatively scheduled to hold a hearing on the complaint in October.

David Bates, DDS, president of Allcare Dental Management and Allcare Dental and Dentures of New Hampshire, surrendered his license to the state Board of Dental Examiners

NASHUA – The president of a defunct dental chain gave up his New Hampshire dentistry license to resolve professional misconduct charges.

David Bates, DDS, president of Allcare Dental Management and Allcare Dental and Dentures of New Hampshire, surrendered his license to the state Board of Dental Examiners. The board approved the agreement on May 9, according to state Attorney General Michael Delaney.

Bates had been scheduled to appear before the board for disciplinary hearings later this month. Bates has also been the focus of licensing boards in Massachusetts, West Virginia and North Dakota, Delaney said.

Most of the company’s offices closed abruptly in December 2010. In Nashua, that meant hundreds of former patients, some of whom said they prepaid for dental work, descended on the Nashua office shortly after New Year’s Day trying to track down their dental records, X-rays and dentures.

Patients Loose Thousands Due To Allcare Dental Sudden Closing

Tens of thousands of patients are extremely upset tonight as they have lost hundreds of thousands by the sudden, unexpected closing of Allcare Dental.

Patients showed up at Allcare dental centers across the country this week only to find the doors locked.  A phone call to the company returned nothing but a busy signal.

Patients are furious and have been told that unless Allcare were to file bankruptcy it is unlikely they will recover their money.

Allcare Dental and Dentures' Better Business Bureau rating had dropped to a D- in the last few months. 

Heck, that's nothing, FORBA Holding and it's Small Smiles Dental Centers rate F. 

This is why you never pay for services until rendered and another example on why these drive thru dental and denture clinics must NOT be allowed.  State dental boards must get off their tuchus and enforce the laws on the books.  The laws are there for a reason, and this is one of them.

Allcare Dental Closing Doors

Looks like Allcare is shutting the doors, leaving hundreds of employees without jobs. 

The closing was suddenly announced without warning, leaving employees in shock.   The announcement came on New Year's Eve of all things. 

It flat ran out of money.

I'm sure it had nothing to do with the poor quality of care and thousands of complaints.

They even shut down their website.  However they did set up allcareinfo.com to assist patients they left hanging.

 

One down, hundreds more to go.  I can remove those files from the file cabinet.  However, will still be tracking their dentists  for complaints.