New Texas Law: No More Unnecessary Dental Treatments
From January 1st 2014, Texas law will see that more power is given to regulators, in a bid to crack down on dentists who are providing children with unnecessary dental care.
Lois W. Kolkhorst, a state representative has stated that the new law came about due a recent investigation carried out by PBS Frontline and the Centre for Public Integrity. They found that a number of practices including the Kool Smile chain had carried out Medicaid and fraudulent services.
The joint investigation carried out by the two companies noted that Kool Smiles were encouraged by their practice standards to provide children with expensive stainless steel crowns rather than fillings or sealant treatment. What was worrying was that this form of treatment was carried out on baby teeth.
What’s more, PBSF and CPI found that Kool Smiles had issued braces for children still with their baby teeth and over 15,000 children in the US were provided with other unnecessary dental treatments.
Kolkhorst stated that only one Medicaid dentist had his license revoked but said that even that was “just not acceptable”.
The new law means that any complaint shall be looked into and entitles parents to sit in the room with their child when they are receiving any form of dental treatment.
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