Private Equity dental management companies are at the center of a U.S. Senate inquiry, audits, investigations and civil actions in six states over allegations of unnecessary procedures, low-quality treatment and the unlicensed practice of dentistry, according to a report released by Bloomberg News.

Federal lawmakers and state regulators are trying to determine whether a popular dental practice model funded by Wall Street is having a destructive influence on dentistry in the U.S.

The private equity dental companies only account for about 12,000, or 8%, of U.S. dental practices, according to Thomas A. Climo, a Las Vegas dental consultant.

In 2010, The Wealthy Dentist reported that All Smiles Dental Center Inc., a management company owned by Chicago-based Valor Equity Partners, filed for bankruptcy protection after a Texas Medicaid action cut off reimbursement payments because of their exorbitant amounts of orthodontic care at the expense of Texas taxpayers.

All Smiles was part of a state audit that discovered 90% of the Medicaid claims for orthodontic braces weren’t medically needed.

After years of criticism that the poor were being deprived of dental care under Medicaid, class-action lawsuits and public pressure forced Medicaid to change their health care reimbursements. As reported by The Wealthy Dentist in our story, Taxpayers Footing the Bill for Braces in Texas, some Texas’ dental practices went on to bill Medicaid $184 million for Medicaid orthodontics — more than the rest of the United States combined.

M. Alec Parker, executive director of the North Carolina Dental Society told Bloomberg News that the private equity industry stepped up its investments in dental management over the last 5 years partly because health care was one of the few areas that grew through the recession.

According to the Bloomberg report, Christine Ellis, a Dallas orthodontist, who testified before Congress in April of this year reported that the “flagrancy of the fraud” she found in audits she performed for Texas Medicaid “is truly unbelievable,” with only 10% of the paid claims she reviewed actually qualifying for Medicaid coverage.

Ellis told the U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform that Texas “has gained a lot of fraudulent orthodontic providers, including many private equity owned dental clinics engaged in the illegal practice of dentistry.”

This May North Carolina is considering legislation that would subject agreements between dentists and the companies to state approval over concerns brought about by the the practices of private equity dental practices.

The Wealthy Dentist twice reported on the North Carolina Senate Bill 655 that would require the North Carolina Board of Dental Examiners to examine all business contracts entered into by dental practices in their state.

Our first article, Dentists Beware: The Government May Want To Tell You How To Manage Your Practice detailed information concerning inclusive authority over how dentists manage their business.

The second The Wealthy Dentist article, Dental Practice Management: North Carolina Senate Bill Wants Dentists To Do It Themselves discussed dentist responses to the impact this bill could have on their dental practices.

The measure has already passed the state Senate and has moved on to the House, where leaders have appointed a special interim committee to study the bill and its potential repercussions to dentists.

Reports have surfaced that the legislative proposal likely to be heard this month. The basics of the bill is intended to restrict contracts dentists can build with dental service organizations and give the Dental Board control of how dentists in North Carolina run their practices.

The North Carolina Dental Society supports the bill, stating that dental management companies often bill dental patients for unneeded care and opponents insist that passage of the bill will only drive up dental care costs.

What are your thoughts on private equity dental management practices?

For more on this story see: Dental Abuse Seen Driven by Private Equity Investments