Ballance -DeRose DDS PA

After looking over the Articles Of Incorporation for Ballance-DeRose, DDS PA it appears another name needs to be added to the list of people involved in dental practice. There are three people listed:

Michael Anthony DeRose
Letitia L. Ballance
Robert D. Hinshaw

with Michael Anthony DeRose listed as Registered Agent.
and Robert D. Hinshaw the Incorporator
It was signed 10-16-2003

This corporation is still current and active

There is also a Michael Anthony DeRose, DDS PA corporation listed in North Carolina with Mike being the sole director and incorporator.

This corporation was formed July 12, 2001 and is also current

Dr. David Moore-Small World Dental Clinic-North Carolina

By Tara Savatius: 2-1-06

When kids wouldn't behave, he choked them, slapped them and banged their heads against chairs. He'd often haul them out of their seats by their necks or yank them forward by hooking his fingers under their upper front teeth.
No, this isn't another column about some thug with a three-page rap sheet. This is about Dr. David Moore, pediatric dentist extraordinaire, and what went on in his Billingsley Road office.
In one case described in a report by the North Carolina State Board of Dental Examiners, Moore pulled a girl "off of the dental chair by her head and neck and slammed her against the window in the operatory." In another, he choked a boy and left marks on the child's neck and face. A third child also emerged from his office with marks on his cheeks and arms after Moore strapped him to a chair and used a mouth prop that caused unnecessary bleeding.
That's just a small sample of how the low-income children who visited Moore's Small World Clinic, which specialized in Medicaid patients, were treated. The rest of the story doesn't get much better. According to the dental examiners' report, Moore left children unattended while they were under intravenous sedation and failed to note his reasons for sedating them in their records. Though he didn't have a general-anesthesia permit, he administered general anesthesia to other children and left them unattended as well.
Why knock your patients out? My guess is that it's a heck of a lot easier to perform hours of unnecessary work when they're out cold.
That's where the Medicaid fraud comes in. Moore repeatedly billed the government for work he didn't do and failed to justify work that he did, an investigation by the dental examiners revealed.
A rational person would assume that Moore's dental career was kaput, but rational people apparently don't sit on the dental examiners board. As punishment, the board revoked Moore's license for six months starting Jan. 13. When he gets it back in July, they plan to get really tough with him by putting him on probation.
Here's how that harebrained scheme is supposed to work. According to an agreement Moore signed with the board, if he doesn't beat up kids, illegally gas them, work on them alone or bar their parents from the examining room, he gets to keep his license. The board plans to enforce this by training his staff -- who will be hired and paid by him -- to keep an eye on him. Moore will be required to establish a fund for each staff member that covers their salary for up to six weeks -- not six weeks, but up to six weeks. They'll get the money if they fink him out, but only if the board later finds he broke the law. How they'll pay the rent until they find a new job isn't covered in the agreement.
What happened at Small World Clinic is just the latest example of the dental examiners board's laissez-faire attitude toward fraud and patient abuse by Charlotte dentists. Two and a half years ago another investigation by WCNC-TV's Stuart Watson found that two other pediatric Medicaid Dental Centers in Charlotte were barring parents from the examining room, strapping down children as young as 4 for hours, and drilling and capping eight to 16 teeth at a time, procedures that the board found were often unjustified or unnecessary.
After more than two years of inaction, the board finally wrote letters of censure to six of the doctors. The two owners of the clinics, Drs. Letitia Ballance and Michael Derose, were put on that infamous probation. If they bill Medicaid for more than six crowns in a single day, neglect to get parents' permission before the procedure or commit fraud again, they could lose their dental licenses for six whole months. Wow. That's tough.
Part of the problem here is that like doctors, dentists police themselves in North Carolina, with results that can be frightening. The six dentists who serve two-year terms on the dental examiners board are elected by the other dentists licensed in this state. (A hygienist and regular citizen also serve on the board, but they don't get to vote or sit in on disciplinary hearings.)
This creates a sticky situation. Laying the smackdown upon your fellow dental practitioners isn't the way to maintain your popularity or your seat on the board. Make too many enemies and it could come back to haunt you when you leave. And since the board is the final word, why stick your neck out when you could stick up for a colleague who handles poor kids no one wants to work on anyway? It's not like there's a lot of money in that Medicaid stuff, and dentists have to make a living somehow.
Right?

Creative Loafing Charlotte 
Dental Board Investigation

Smile Starters Dental Clinics North Carolina

Not such a great review for the one in Fayetteville, NC

See here

Rated a 2 out of 10 because parent was asked to sign a blanket release giving permission to strap child down in whatever kind of device they saw fit.

Kristi said:

The front office staff at smile starters was very friendly and the office itself seemed clean and organized. As for the rest of the dental staff, I can not speak of them because we didn't make it that far. I knew when I made the appointment that parents are not allowed to go back into the dental area with their children. Although I was a little uneasy with that, I decided we would give it a try. We found out when we got there, that they would not see our children at all, unless we signed a statement giving them authorization to try a whole list of restraining methods if the need would arise. They did inform us that before they utilized the baby papoose method, they would come and get us first, but there were many other methods including having a doctor or nurse physically hold them down or,the doctor or nurse putting there hand over the childs mouth, that they would use without coming and notifying the parent. This just being a cleaning visit, I did not feel it was worth it for my child to have a bad experience and us be in the waiting area having no idea what was going on, when we could just find another dentist. This could very well be a terrific dentist office, but being military and the mother of three children, we have visited many dentists and never been asked to sign anything even close to this, so I didn't even know to ask about it when I made the appointment. That would have saved us a little wasted time, this just isn't the dentist for us.

It's not just Corporate Dentist Defrauding Medicaid and The Public

Dr. Bryan Spilmon also one of the many guilty dentist exposed. WSBT News Story here

More Dentists Medicaid Fraud Cases here.

There are hundreds of stories on the Internet about this happening, however none compares to the torture of the innocent children like those involving Medicaid Dental Centers, Small Smiles, Smile High, Smile Starters and other FORBA managed dental clinics.

ABC- I-Team Furthers Investigation

ABC-I -Team Furthers Investigation

Smile Starters Dental Clinics-Dr. Raf Rivera cohort of Michael DeRose and Tish Ballance Since 2002

In an Email I was told:

The dental clinics in NC started out named the Medicaid Dental Centers.

They changed the name to the Carolina Dental Centers.

They just renamed the clinics again to Smile Starters.

Mike Derose and Tish Ballance just sold the clinics to a Dr. Rafael (Raf) Rivera, Jr. after paying the 10 million dollar fine to the government.

They are trying to say that since they sold the clinics they are all under new management and are hoping that the bad press will go away.

Dr. Raf Rivera has been working for Derose and Ballance since 2002. He was involved in the NC Dental board case involving excessive treatment, etc...and he did treatment that you hear about on Small Smiles and Kool Smiles, etc..

Hope this helps.

I'm trying to confirm this.

There is a Dr. Rafael Rivera, Jr NC dental license number 6870 in Charlotte, NC whose licenses was issued 6-26-1998 and is up for renewal in March 2009 and has no Dental Board Actions listed at present.

Dr. Michale DeRose was issued a NC dental license in 6-15-2001 and is on probation as listed on the NC Dental Board site.

Small Smiles Again Under Fire in Albany, NY 4-1-08

Attn: State Investigators
If there is a Small Smiles Clinic in your state and you are not investigating them, you should be. There is a clear connection between Medicaid Dental Clinics, Small Smiles and Kool Smiles. At the end of this article you will see exactly what the connection is.


Two Employees Speaks out about Small Smiles Office in Albany New York.

Video May Be Disturbing

Part 1 of Investigation:

CBS Channle 6 WRGB New Albany, New York, April 1, 2008

Picture a young child strapped into a dental chair, unable to move his arms or legs.
As the cold, metal instruments invade his trembling mouth, the boy's heart begins to race: 200 beats per minute. 225. 250.
Now, he's sweating, throwing-up and urinating his pants - frantically scanning the room full of masked faces for some sign the pain will come to an end.
But it does not. The dentist keeps on working
"That's Small Smiles," said Nicole, a former assistant at the Colonie children's dentistry clinic. "Don't bring your kids there."
Speaking on condition of anonymity, former employees Nicole and Holly detailed a list of allegations against the clinic and its lead dentist, Dr. Maziar Izadi. They include:
-Rushing through procedures, even when children are vomiting and urinating

-Allowing children's heart rates to go dangerously past 200 beats per minute

-Performing unnecessary procedures, such as placing crowns on baby teeth that are about to fall-out

-Needlessly placing children under a papoose board, a device that immobilizes their arms and legs

-Discouraging parents from sitting with their children during procedures

-Failing to properly sterilize instruments


"They were constantly pushing production," Holly said. "I think they do it so they can make a fast buck."
Holly and Nicole allege staff members, notably Dr. Izadi, earn lucrative bonuses for achieving certain production numbers - a claim the company denies.
Dr. Izadi did not return CBS 6 phone calls, and ran to his car when approached by CBS 6 reporter Steve Flamisch and photographer Chris Cornell in the Small Smiles parking lot.
A receptionist forwarded our call to Small Smiles corporate spokesman Don Meyer, who said that a review of 40 charts found that all procedures were "necessary and proper." He acknowledged, however, that the doctor who performed the review is a Small Smiles employee, and not an independent expert.

To be fair, Small Smiles did take swift action when informed of allegations that several employees may be using crack cocaine and marijuana, allegedly during their lunch breaks.

A corporate team promptly flew-in from Colorado and drug tested the entire staff. Meyer confirmed there were terminations, but he would not say how many - nor would he say whether anyone had been tested at the time of their hiring. Former employees allege no one is tested.
A government source confirmed that state officials are looking into the list of allegations against Small Smiles.
The company's clinics have also been the subject of news investigations in Denver, Rochester, and Washington D.C.

According to reports, FORBA, LLC began in Pueblo, CO, then was taken over by Sanus, a holding company in Nashville, TN, but a large portion of it's firm would continue to operate out of Pueblo, CO.

Hmmm.. Isn't that where Michael DeRose, DDS, owner of a 3 million dollar home, who was fined $10 million dollars this week lives? Well, yes it is as a matter of fact.

Now isn't William A. Mueller, DDS an old buddy of Michael DeRose's? Well, yes he is, they co-owned several clinics together back in the day. Including Smile High Dental Clinic in Colorado.

Isn't William A. Mueller associated with FORBA, LLC from it's conceptions? Well, yes he surely is. see here . and here And look, a one Edward DeRose in with FORBA. This Eddy could be related to Michael DeRose, well I bet he is don't you?

And look here! See how many founders of Kool Smiles are formerly associated with Smile High Dental Clinics out of Colorado. Looks like at least two. Dr. Tu Tran and Dr. Tim Pham.

And look here. FORBA says he operates 42 clinics and has 750,000 patients a year.

And here is where we find ourselves at Arcapita, Inc. Arcapita Bank. Where it acquired FORBA for 435 million dollars.


I found this at topix:

I work for Kool Smiles, a sister corporation of Small Smiles and all I can say is that their "philosophy" is awfully confusing. They say that they do not NOT allow parents to go back with their children during treatment, yet when we had people from our corporate office visiting us one week, we were reprimanded endlessly for having parents in the back office and they even went so far as to have additional training for employees to learn how to "handle" those parents who want to accompany their child. We also have a consent form somewhere in a packet of forms that every parent is required to fill out every six months, that allows us to use restraint techniques, voice control, and hand-over-mouth on their children - if they are anything like me, they probably don't really read all of the forms they are signing and have no idea of what is really going on with their children in the back office. I can also tell you that it is not just done in the event of an emergency - it's usually done on smaller children who are afraid, and is used to control the child for long periods of time to complete the most dental work possible in the time alloted. I have only witnessed a couple of instances where it was actually beneficial for both the dental team and the patient. The majority of the time the child is terrified, screaming, crying, spitting, and choking thru the entire procedure, while the doctor and the assistant speaks to them in an angry tone, then is sent back out to their parent soaking wet with sweat and exhausted from the ordeal they just went thru. This whole practice is not only traumatic for the patient and upsetting to the parent, but nerve-racking for the dental auxiliary working on the child, which often results in poor quality dentistry. Not to mention the dentisit's they hire are usually fresh out of dental school and are not experienced enough to handle the fast-pace and large patient load demanded of them. I enjoy working with children and I love working with the under-served community because they really need the help and have little other options, but now that I'm starting to see and feel the other side of corporate dentistry, I'm really disappointed - even disgusted at times.

Awe. The Internet is a wonderful thing!

update 3/1/2010

Dr. Maziar Izadi is now practicing what he calls dentistry at Allcare in New York.  Wonder why they hired him, he's a terrible dentist according to all reports.  

Small Smiles Albany New York Investigation Part 2 4-1-08

CBS Channel 6 WRGB New Albany, New York

Small Smiles Investigation Part 2
4-08

Office of Inspector General Reports Wide Spead Fraud In Dental Medicaid Payment-September 2007

To All Dentist and Dental Corporations Exploiting and Abusing Our Children and Stealing Our Tax Dollars For Your Personal Gain and Lavish Life Styles: Big Brother Is Watching As Is This Blogger.

Download and Read The Report Here

Improper Medicaid payments for dental services have been identified periodically by State Medicaid Fraud Control Units (MFCU). In 2004, a MFCU investigation determined that dentists were reimbursed $4.5 million for unnecessary dental services. In 2000, another MFCU identified a widespread fraud scheme by dentists who recruited children to receive Medicaid-reimbursable services, many of which were unnecessary or were not provided.

Thirty-one percent of Medicaid pediatric dental services in the five States resulted in improper payments. In the five States we reviewed, improper payments for pediatric dental services provided during calendar year 2003 totaled an estimated $155 million, of which the Federal share was approximately $96 million.

Medicaid Program, abusing children and elders, and intentionally inflicting bodily injury.

The dentists unnecessarily performed root canals, drilled into patients’ healthy teeth, and completed as many as 20 medically unnecessary filling procedures on the same patient, defrauding the Medicaid program of $4.5 million.

In 2000, Florida’s MFCU investigated a widespread Medicaid fraud scheme by dentists who recruited children to receive Medicaid-reimbursable services. Many of the services were found to be unnecessary or not provided.

In fiscal year 2006, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) implemented a program designed to estimate and monitor State and national improper payment rates in the Medicaid program.

In this report, they analyzed Medicaid pediatric dental services provided during calendar year 2003 in five States (Idaho, Indiana, Massachusetts, North Carolina, and Texas).

Nine Dentist Suffer Consequenses of Abusing and Traumatizing Children

Charlotte Observer story

A VERY TRAUMATIC EXPERIENCE FOR THE CHILDREN'

Medicaid dentists disciplined

Probation, reprimands were given before $10 million settlement

KAREN GARLOCH AND GARY L. WRIGHT

kgarloch@charlotteobserver.comgwright@charlotteobserver.com

Christy Dillbeck holds the stainless steel caps and teeth of her son Brandon. Brandon at the age of 4 had 16 teeth drilled out and capped with stainless steel in a scam by local dentists. (original story aired July 2003)

Nine dentists have been disciplined in connection with a Medicaid fraud case alleging they performed or billed for unnecessary dental work on poor children in North Carolina.

Patients as young as 4 years old had multiple teeth pulled and root canals performed during single appointments at Medicaid Dental Center clinics in Charlotte, Winston-Salem, Asheville and Raleigh, according to state documents.

At least two children received 16 pulpotomies, also known as "baby root canals," and 16 steel crowns during the same visit.

"It was a very traumatic experience for the children and their parents," said attorney Darren Dawson of Greenville, N.C., who represents some of the families involved.

"These were children who were 4, 5 and 6 who were told by their moms and dads that they were going to visit with trusted professionals. Suddenly, they're in there for three hours and coming out with a mouth full of steel."

In a settlement announced Wednesday, Medicaid Dental Center, a privately owned chain of N.C. dental clinics, agreed to pay $10 million to the government to resolve allegations that it performed and billed for unnecessary dental work on kids.

Clinic owners and dentists Letitia (Tish)Ballance. DDS of the Charlotte area and Michael DeRose,DDS of Pueblo, Colo., are also serving three years' probation, starting in 2005, by the N.C. Board of Dental Examiners.

The seven other dentists who worked for the clinics received written reprimands in 2005 that will remain permanently in their N.C. files and with the National Practitioner Data Bank.

"It's something that will follow them in any state where they try to practice," said Bobby White, executive director of the dental board.

White said the seven dentists received lighter discipline than the clinic owners because they were inexperienced and essentially following orders. Ballance and DeRose "were the bosses, making decisions and sending it down the line -- `You will do things this way,' " White said. "The board saw that as a mitigating factor."

The seven include three from Charlotte -- Drs. John Lyons, Jeffrey Zieziula and Erron Brady. Others are Drs. Lori Petree and Christopher Ballinger of Winston-Salem, Dr. Heather Berkheimer of Southern Pines and Dr. Michelle Wilkerson of Raleigh, according to the dental board.

None of the seven could be reached for comment Thursday. Several continue to work for Medicaid Dental Center, in the Charlotte office, now called Smile Starters, and elsewhere. Ballinger and Brady now work in private practice.

According to the board's reprimands, Lyons and Ballinger saw patients initially and developed diagnosis and treatment plans. The remaining five dentists performed the treatment. The board accused all seven of doing their work "without adequate diagnostic documentation."

The dental work was done between 2001 and 2003 and involved the children's baby teeth.

Since 2005, the dental board has made unannounced inspections of Medicaid Dental Center, and found the clinics substantially in compliance with its standards.

Spokeswomen for the U.S. attorney in Charlotte and the N.C. attorney general on Thursday would not disclose how many children they allege received unnecessary dental work, how many dentists were involved, or why the government settled for $10 million instead of bringing criminal charges.

Federal and state laws do not explicitly make it illegal for dentists to perform unnecessary work. Such claims are typically left to malpractice lawsuits in civil court. There are laws making it a crime to commit Medicaid and health care fraud in billings.

The settlement agreement doesn't prohibit prosecutors from bringing criminal charges. But when civil settlements are reached, sources said, it suggests prosecutors are not planning to pursue criminal charges.

16 `baby root canals'

One of the children treated in Charlotte was Brandon Dillbeck, then 4.His mother, Christy Dillbeck of Charlotte, said her son had 16 "baby root canals," and 16 stainless steel crowns placed on his teeth during one visit.

"He has nightmares to this day of people holding him down," the 24-year-old mother said. "He had blood all over his shirt. He was covered with sweat. He looked like he was in a trance. He was crying."

Dillbeck said she had taken her son to the dentist to have his teeth cleaned. She was 19 at the time and unemployed, and she took Brandon to Medicaid Dental Center because the office accepted Medicaid.

Dillbeck said she didn't give the dentist permission to perform the baby root canals or place the crowns on her son's teeth.

"What mother in her right mind would give permission to do that to their child all at one time?" she said. "A mother would have to be crazy to let someone do that to their child.

"He had beautiful teeth before. He came out of there, and they were all metal. He was embarrassed for years about how he looked. He wouldn't smile."

Brandon, now 9, has lost his baby teeth and the steel crowns, but his mom worries he may still suffer long-term problems.

Dawson, the Greenville lawyer, said Thursday he represents the families of five children, including Brandon, who received the questionable dental work. Four were patients at a Charlotte clinic, he said.

Dawson and his colleague Harry Albritton are in preliminary negotiations with attorneys for Medicaid Dental Center and the dentists, seeking to reach a monetary settlement rather than go to court.

'Black eye' to profession

The Medicaid Dental Center case gives a "black eye" to the profession, said Dr. Alec Parker, who heads the N.C. Dental Society, the state's professional organization for dentists.

"It's really just hard to understand how (dentists) could justify that," Parker said. "We put our trust in our health care providers, and we expect them to do what's best for the patient."

Part of the problem, Parker said, is that private dentists don't accept many Medicaid patients because the state-federal insurance program for the poor and disabled doesn't provide adequate reimbursement. Dentists also shun Medicaid because it means extra paperwork and frequently missed appointments because patients don't have transportation.

That leaves patients few choices for dental care and pushes dentists who do accept Medicaid to treat large numbers of patients. "When reimbursement rates are as low as they are, it makes it difficult to make ends meet," Parker said. "They feel like they have to overbill and overtreat to make a go of it."

Still, Parker said, if the Medicaid Dental Center dentists knew that what they were doing was wrong, and did it repeatedly, they should be facing "more than just a reprimand."

"People who are trying to take advantage of the system need to know that somebody's watching."

Checking out your dentist

• Ask friends and family for recommendations. Insurance companies and managed care plans usually have a panel of dentists.

• After obtaining names, check to make sure they are properly licensed and have clear records.

• N.C. dentists are licensed and disciplined by the N.C. Board of Dental Examiners: www.ncdentalboard.org; 919-678-8223.

• S.C. dentists are licensed and disciplined by the S.C. Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation: www.llr.state.sc.us; 803-896-4300.

• Ask about costs and why procedures are necessary and if there are alternatives.

Remember the names of these dentists, they have been involved in Fraudulent Medicaid Billing and Performing Unnecessary Dental Procedures on Children, likely strapping them down in restraints for hours at a time in a papoose board, traumatizing children and abusing them, all for the love of money and greed!

BEWARE of These Dentists:

Dr. Michael DeRose

Dr. Letitia Ballance

Dr. John Lyons

Dr. Jeffery Zieziula

Dr. Erron Brady

Dr. Lori Petree

Dr. Christopher Ballinger

Dr. Heather Berkheimer

Dr. Michelle Wilkerson