Is Your Dentist Drilling for Dollars?

Millions of dollars worth of unnecessary dental treatments are being performed each year.

One dentist told a patient she had a fractured jaw, although it was not fractured at all. The dentist performed surgery anyway, and inserted hundreds of tiny beads instead of a bone graft. The beads became infected and required multiple surgeries for removal. The same dentists has reportedly performed unnecessary root canals and other unneeded dental work.

In addition to unnecessary procedures, there have been cases of “phantom billing” by dentists, in which dentists simply bill insurers for services they never performed.

James Quiggle, of the Coalition Against Insurance Fraud, says there has been a disturbing spike in dental fraud by crooked dentists. An ABC News investigation uncovered dental fraud cases across the country, causing harm to patients and bilking insurance companies out of millions of dollars.

Sources:
ABC News January 21, 2008