More Parents Respond To Kool Smiles Report By WAVY TV Reporter Derrick Rose

Click here to read all the stories from parents. They just go on and on, story after story and who is stopping this? Nobody so far!

WAVY TV Reports on Complaints about Kool Smiles

WAVY TV's , an NBC affiliate serving Norfolk, Portsmouth and Newport News Virginia, Derrick Rose reports on the usual complaints about the treatment of children at chain dental clinics catering to underserved children on medicaid that are operating in various states across the US.

Kool Smiles was created by Dr. Tu Tran and Dr. Thien Pham who trained with then broke from Drs. Michael DeRose and Dr. Ed DeRose who were the creators of Small Smiles/FOBRA that has hit the news in many areas including Good Morning America.

Click Here To Read Derricks Report

Forba/Small Smiles Entering Orthodontics Market

Looks like just doing unnecessary dental work. abusing children for profit and fraudulently billing medicaid isn't enough for Small Smiles. They are now looking to venture into orthodontics.

See job listing for an orthodontist in MA.

If their orthodontic work is anything like their general dentistry work the children's teeth will go from perfectly aligned to completely screwed up.

If you are an Orthodontist applying for a job at Small Smiles I suggest you do your homework before even thinking about considering a job with this horrible company.

Small Smiles New Signage For It's Albany, NY Clinic

This is the new face of Forba's (Small Smiles) Clinic in Albany, NY.

It's now called Access Dentistry Albany on the window, however when Dr. Izadi was looking for new employees online his email was albanyaccessdentistry.com.

As you can clearly see Dr. Izadi is still there just as he was when the place was called Small Smiles.

Look, it's clear that as Small Smiles hit the air waves there under a cloud of allegations of Dr. Izadi abusing children and defrauding Medicaid Forba simply changed the name of the clinic, had Dr. Izadi apply to receive Medicaid payments directly instead of through Forba and it was business as usual. They didn't skip a beat. Within 10 days of being shut out of the NY Medicaid program in May of 2008 they were back in business. I'm not sure they ever locked the door on the place during those few days.

It's reported that payments from Medicaid are deposited into a bank in Wisconsin and guess where Forba/Small Smiles banks, yep Associated Bank located in Wisconsin.

Don't be fooled folks, this is still the same Small Smiles office that was reported on by Steve Flamisch, they have just changed the signage. Be sure to see his reports on this site.

Do Not take your children there for dental care!

Dad tackles Smile Starters Dentist

It doesn't look like things have changed any under the so called new management at Smile Starters in North Carolina.  (BTW, it's still under Michael DeRose control)

Here is a comment I got just two days ago.

My friend took her son there for his first dental visit and has vowed never to return. She managed to witness the staff attempting to restrain her infant son into a straight jacket, which they said was needed to keep him from moving and potentially injuring himself. Then she checked a little later and the doctor had a fist inches away from her sons face at which point her husband tackled the doctor and she grabbed her son. They are suing.

Current Review Shows Nothing Has Changed At Small Smiles

Recent Review of Dr. Erin Haggard at Small Smiles in Oklahoma City:

This was posted 8-20-08, just a few days ago. After reading it you can see NOTHING is changing at Small Smiles.

My friend just took her 3 year old son to this place and had a nightmare experience. They tied him up and didn't notify her, she only found out because he wet his pants and when she asked him what happened he said they didn't let him go because he was tied up. When she went back in to ask them about it they said that it was something common for them. The treatment they gave him was silver caps, which she found out later were absolutely not necessary. The reason she found this out was because he had a big cut on his lip (which they claimed was from him bitting himself) and the cut got a really bad infection, which SS wouldn't treat so she had to go to another dentist and that's when she was told the caps were not even needed.
Needless to say, this place is HORRIBLE!
Just ask yourself: why won't they let you go to the back with your child?!

"Drilling For Dollars" Wins Emmy

On Monday evening, September 22, 2008, Roberta Baskin, was awarded a national Emmy for her multi-part exposé on Small Smiles, a chain of pediatric dentist centers that preyed and profitted on children and the Medicaid system. Roberta previously won the Scripps-Howard Award for National Journalism for her series.

Comment From Nancy Mastreno

Below is a comment I received the other day. I will say these kind are few and far between but they show the ignorance of some people. I wonder if Nancy ever stopped to wonder just where a dentist got the kind of money the DeRose's portray they have. Giving millions here, hundreds of thousands there, establishing million dollar endowments at Universities etc. For heavens sake Michael and Eddie were just dentists! Nancy needs to get a clue. I bet there are a few of my readers who would love to enlighten Ms. Mastreno.

Who are you and what kind of a grudge do you have. You really need to get a life. I have known the DeRose family almost my entire life and have witnessed their generosity. Yes, they and many others contributed to building this stadium and bringing football back to CSU Pueblo. It is great for the community and the school. My first dental assisting job was with Dr. Eddie when I was still in high school many many years ago. I am still in dentistry, but in another dental office with no connection to the DeRoses, and I have nothing but respect for this family. They have given back to this community many times over and most people don't even know how generous they are because they don't give with the condition of posting what they do. You must need to get a life and stop being so obsessed with this family. Nancy Mastreno

Albany Access Dentistry - Former Small Smiles Still Getting Medicaid Dollars

Dentists Getting State Money, Despite State Investigations

August 14, 2008 - 7:43PM

Steve Flamisch

They're under state investigation, but they're still collecting state money.

Small Smiles Dentistry, which removed all traces of its name in late May, is now known simply as a "dentist's office." New York terminated the Colonie children's dental clinic from its Medicaid program on May 24, but the two remaining dentists subsequently applied for and received their own Medicaid provider numbers, a source in state government said.

That means they are legally working on children and collecting state reimbursements, even as three state agencies investigate their alleged misconduct.

Those allegations, made by three ex-employees and 107 parents, mirror claims made against Small Smiles locations in several other cities nationwide: that dentists performed rushed and unnecessary procedures in pursuit of lucrative bonuses and Medicaid money. Your taxpayer money.

In a recent survey of 29 Small Smiles parents:

• 17 / 29 said they requested -- but were denied -- the ability to sit with their child(ren) during treatment

• 12 / 29 said their child(ren) was/were placed under a papoose board, unable to move his/their arms and legs

• 3 / 29 said they did not consent to the use of that papoose board in advance

• 18 / 29 said the dentist placed crowns on their child(ren)'s baby teeth (as many as eight crowns in one sitting)

• 12 / 29 said their child(ren) developed complications, including bleeding, infection, and severe pain

• 6 / 29 said another dentist later told them the work done at Small Smiles was not necessary

In sometimes scathing statements, a few parents said their children were screaming in pain because the dentist did not wait for the Novocain to take effect, or skipped it altogether. Other parents described staff members placing dirty instruments back in the drawer, or in their child's mouth.

With the parents' written permission, CBS 6 mailed copies all of the questionnaires and statements to state investigators from three departments. One agency -- the State Education Department's Office of Professional Discipline -- had filed a subpoena, requesting related documents. That agency licenses the dentists.

Small Smiles corporate spokesman Don Meyer, who has called CBS 6's reporting of the allegations "a striking case of substandard journalism" full of "baseless claims," offered a generic response to the parents:

"We handle parent concerns on a case-by-case basis. Parents are encouraged to contact their child's dental center directly (464-0402) or call our 800 number. As previously stated, we take any concern seriously, and take immediate action to remedy problems if and when they occur."

Meyer promised an explanation for the name change at the Colonie clinic, but he had not offered one by Thursday night.

Stay with CBS 6 News for the latest on the state investigations.

EDITORIAL NOTE: Dr. Maziar Izadi, who retreated from a CBS 6 camera crew when approached for comment in March, is still practicing at the former Small Smiles clinic. CBS 6 is withholding the name of the other dentist because he, unlike Izadi, was not named by any parents.

Most parents said they didn't know who worked on their child(ren), because they never met the dentist. Only a dental assistant came to the waiting room to speak to them.

Wild Smiles Comment

Here is a comment posted about the new Wild Smiles and I just didn't want anyone to miss it so I'm posting it here on the main page.

Wild Smiles? That is a good one! What makes these people think that the word 'smiles' is appropriate in any of their names?
How about DF&B? Drill Fill and Bill instead?
Maybe 'Screams are Us'?
How about 'Dental Mills of America'?
What a racket these places have- they have twenty one years to drill teeth on one child. About ten or twelve of those years they can drill, fill, drill again. Then remove the nerve in tetth and put metal caps on them. Not only that they have a bunch of 'permanent' teeth that come in and they can drill on them from about age five or six to age twenty one! That is about fifty something teeth per person that they can have their way with over a period of twenty one years. Forget about preventative measures to prevent decay! They would lose out on something way too good and profitable for them!
Too many teeth are drilled unnecessarily. Too many teeth are root canal treated and capped and then many times extracted a short while later. Too many times small cavities are missed and they end up being so the tooth needs to be cut away more than it should have been, or something worse, like extraction.. Too many teeth are being cut that do not even have decay. They regularly take x-rays on every patient every six months regardless of if there is a reason or not. They squeeze out every dollar from every patient in every way they can, If they miss out on a billable procedure- they get upset!
The list of shameful practices goes on daily at these places.
The poor and unsuspecting parents and children that go to Small Smiles and others like them are being taken advantage of. They lose teeth at an early age when they do not need to. They receive treatments that are often excessive or not even needed.
Small Smiles is a shameful profiteering scheme under the guise of "health care' and providing "care" for those so-called under served. Those who do not even have a clue of what is occurring.
And Medicaid payers in every state nationwide should be reeled in and held responsible for the shameful waste of taxpayers' money by allowing these places to operate completely unchecked.
There needs to be something done to reverse this trend of profiting excessively through Medicaid fraud and other abuses.
Smiles? There is nothing to smile about. These places do not really care for the people that come there. They truly are interested in making as much money as they can, as fast as they can, and as easily as they can.
It's "wild" ALRIGHT. BUT NOBODY IS REALLY SMILING.