Maine news, sports, weather from Portland Press Herald / Maine Sunday Telegram, Portland, Maine

October 20, 2012

South Portland woman suing Aspen Dental

Plaintiffs in 11 states are seeking class-action status that could involve thousands.

By Ann S. Kim akim@mainetoday.com
Staff Writer

A South Portland woman is one of 11 named plaintiffs in a class-action lawsuit against Aspen Dental Management and its majority shareholder over alleged "sham" owners and deceptive practices.

Aspen Dental has seven locations in Maine that opened from 2006 to 2008.

Thousands of Mainers could be part of the class, said Brian Cohen, one of the New York lawyers for the plaintiffs.

"We're fighting for thousands of aggrieved patients of Aspen and hopefully we're going to right the many wrongs that were committed against them," Cohen said Friday.

Named as defendants are Robert Fontana, president and CEO of Aspen Dental Management, and Leonard Green & Partners, the private equity firm that has majority ownership of the company.

Isabelle Reali, 59, a certified nursing assistant, went to the Aspen Dental location in South Portland in July 2010 because her dental insurance was accepted there and because of advertisements for free exams and X-rays, according to the complaint filed in the Northern District of New York on Thursday.

After a brief exam, she was "whisked" into a business office where an office manager persuaded her to commit to a treatment plan that included full extractions and dentures before encouraging her to sign up for a health care credit card for the amount her insurance would not cover, according to the complaint.

Reali's insurance was "maxed out" and the credit card was charged before she had any procedures.

The complaint says that Aspen Dental clinics, including the one in South Portland, are not owned and operated by the licensed dentists who provide the care, as they claim.

The complaint accuses the defendants of unlawfully practicing dentistry.

In a prepared statement, Aspen Dental Management said the allegations in the lawsuit "are entirely without merit."

Company spokeswoman Kasey Pickett said doctors own the clinics and Aspen Dental Management provides support services such as marketing, accounting and other administrative functions.

She said the crux of the business model is freeing up doctors so they can focus on care.

The company said it provides support to more than 350 dentist-owned practices in 22 states. Its Maine locations are in Biddeford, South Portland, Portland, Topsham, Waterville, Bangor and Augusta.

Further details about Reali's experience with Aspen Dental -- including the cost of the treatment and whether she followed through with the plan -- are not in the complaint.

Reali could not be reached for comment Friday.

Cohen said that because of the pending litigation, he would not allow plaintiffs to speak to the media and would not provide additional information about their experiences with Aspen Dental.

The lawsuit is on behalf of 11 people in 11 states.

The Associated Press reported that their lawyers are seeking class action status that could cover tens of thousands of current and former patients.

The allegations in the lawsuit struck a chord with Mark Malm, a retiree who lives in Biddeford.

Malm, 69, said he went to Aspen Dental in Biddeford because his regular dentist didn't take his insurance.

He said he paid about $3,500 out of pocket for treatments he received during three visits in 2010.

He and his wife, Diane, became suspicious when the prices increased in successive visits and they sought a second opinion from his regular dentist.

Malm's regular dentist is now treating his periodontal disease for $125 a visit, three times a year, Malm said.

One big difference is how many pockets of receding gums are injected, he said.

His regular dentist does the injections on only four or five pockets, while he had 29 treated at Aspen Dental, he said.

"Scare tactics is basically what it was. 'I'm going to lose my teeth if I don't get this done,'" he said.

(Continued on page 2)

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