Kool Smiles making some parents frown

HAMPTON ROADS, Va. - For some Hampton Roads parents, their child's first trip to the dentist became their last . They called 10 On Your Side about cavities, crowns and concerns with a local children's dentistry chain.

You've probably seen "Kool Smiles" ads here on WAVY-TV. It's a multi-million dollar business and your money helps foot part of the bill.

At seven years old, Marissa was like any other seven-year-old.

"She's a very upbeat little girl," Marissa's mother, Lisa Garcia told WAVY.com.

Just about everything makes Marissa Garcia smile. And like any parent, anything that doesn't, would bring Marissa's mother close to tears.

"She was my strong little girl," said Garcia's mother.

That strength, according to Lisa Garcia, came inside a dentist office at Kool Smiles on Little Creek Road. It was a procedure that changed her daughter's smile from one free of crowns, to one with four.

"I cried immediately when I saw her," explained her mother.

Before those tears, it was nothing but smiles as Lisa watched ads for the company on TV.

Marissa's baby teeth were falling out and she needed a regular dentist.

"She was losing them like she was supposed to and it was just time to be seen," her mother further explained.

The initial checkup at Kool Smiles took 20 minutes according Lisa. Then a meeting with a dental assistant.

"The lady came out with her and told me that she needed crowns put on her teeth."

The treatment plan from Kool Smiles recommended eight crowns for Marissa. Lisa Garcia says she was skeptical, but says she felt pressured to have the work done.

"I was going to look into it a little bit more, but when she said she had to have it done; that there would be long term problems with my daughter's teeth, I accepted."

Lisa signed the treatment plan and Marissa was on her way to getting four of those eight crowns.
Her mother wanted to go with her, but says she was told to wait in another room.

"I asked her why I couldn't go back there and she said it's Kool Smiles' policy."

After the first four crowns, Lisa Garcia had to reschedule to get the other four. And that's where her pain started. Following her gut feeling, she decided to get a second opinion.

This recommendation from Norfolk dentist Dr. Thomas Dilaura - provided to us by Lisa Garcia -- says a physical exam revealed no need for stainless steel crowns, but a carious lesion on "tooth B" needed a filling only; No stainless steel crowns needed.

"My mouth dropped, I was very upset. He didn't understand why they put crowns on her teeth, He didn't see any long term issues."

So how does a child go from needing eight crowns to needing none at all? Hampton resident Mike Chandler wants to know the same thing.

"I can't even express how mad I am," said father, Mike Chandler.

At a Kool Smiles office in Hampton, the dental chart for his seven-year-old son Darrion
noted seven cavities. Before agreeing to any work, Chandler says Darrion's mother got a second opinion.

"She was...angry wasn't the word. The diagnosis from the exam was that he had no cavities..zero."

Two children told by Kool Smiles they had a combined 15 cavities, but second opinions said otherwise.

Why such a big difference in diagnosis?

Dr. David Strange,Chief Dental Officer for Kool Smiles told WAVY.com, "I can say with confidence that no dentist at Kool Smiles is going to be a part of, or is interested in doing treatment that is not necessary."

Dr. David Strange is the chief dental officer for the company. He tells us Kool Smiles serves an underserved community of children who may not receive regular dental work. He says that justifies recommending multiple crowns for children.

"Providing 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 9 stainless steel crowns may absolutely be what that child specifically needs," Dr. Strange explained. "They come to us, it's the first time they've been here, they haven't seen a dentist before, and the effects of dental cavities can be extensive."

But what about those second opinions from dentists who said crowns were not needed at all?

"Dentists have the right to differing professional opinions and just like in all lines of work and professional endeavors, we'll have different methodologies and ways of addressing needs," said Dr. Strange.

And what about the claim that parents are denied access to their children during a procedure as a matter of company policy? Both parents we interviewed say that's what they were told.

Dr. Strange says that should never happen.

So a parent should not be denied access to come back with their child? Strange rebutted, "Nope, doesn't happen."

And if that happens, what's the follow-up? If that happens, the people that denied the parent access to the child get a phone call from me and it's not a good discussion," said Strange.

But Garcia and Chandler's biggest concern is their lack of trust in the company's motives.

Here's why: The majority of children who visit Kool Smiles are Medi-caid patients. According to the State Medi-caid Office, Kool Smiles is reimbursed by a