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Closed dental chain transfers nearly all patients

Two months after a dental chain abruptly closed its offices in 13 states, some patients in New Hampshire, Ohio and Massachusetts are still waiting for their records to be transferred to new dentists so they can continue treatment.
/ Source: The Associated Press

Two months after a dental chain abruptly closed its offices in 13 states, some patients in New Hampshire, Ohio and Massachusetts are still waiting for their records to be transferred to new dentists so they can continue treatment.

New York-based Allcare Dental and Dentures closed in January, leaving patients without their money, records and in some cases, teeth. The company has reached agreements with other dentists to take on patients from most of the nearly 60 offices, but it is still working to transfer patients from its two offices in New Hampshire, one of two offices in Massachusetts and two of 17 offices in Ohio.

New Hampshire authorities reacted quickly to the shutdown by forcing the company to briefly re-open so patients could get their records, but many weren't able to do so because the offices lacked the equipment to copy X-rays.

Assistant Attorney General Jim Boffetti, head of New Hampshire's consumer protection bureau, said his office continues to forward records requests to Allcare while it works with other states to investigate the company.

"There's a lot that's been going on. At the end of the day, I don't know where we go with this. It may just be a company that failed, but we're certainly looking into it," he said.

Though his office hasn't been directly involved in transferring patients, Boffetti said he believe Allcare had been negotiating with dental practices in the state.

"We would hope that they could find someone to take over those patients, but I don't know where the negotiations stand," he said.

A lawyer for Allcare Dental did not return a call seeking comment Monday. According to the company's website, which was last updated Feb. 27, agreements were expected soon for the few remaining offices where transfer agreements were not in place. Those include offices in Manchester and Nashua, N.H.; Mansfield and Springfield, Ohio; and Leominster, Mass.

Patients from 15 other Ohio offices have been transferred, as have patients from the one other Massachusetts office and all the offices in Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, New York, North Dakota, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, West Virginia and Wisconsin, according to the Allcare website.

Lynn Berger, one of the estimated 40,000 Allcare patients in New Hampshire, said Monday that she has her first appointment with a new dentist this week after spending the last two months getting her insurance company to correct her account. She had paid Allcare $750 — and her insurer was billed — for partial dentures she never received.

"I wouldn't take a referral from Allcare now. Sorry, but I just won't," she said. "I did my own homework to find someone to go to."

Berger, of Nashua, said she is pursuing a fraud claim with her insurance company.

"They really wanted the money upfront. That should've been a little red flag," she said. "We all got left high and dry."

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Online: http://allcareinfo.com