Aspen Dental Up Close: Consumer Advocacy and Corporate Dental Schemes

Aspen Dental, a prominent dental service organization with over 1,100 locations across the United States, has faced multiple legal challenges over its advertising and billing practices. These controversies have raised significant concerns about corporate influence in healthcare and patient rights.

Allegations of Deceptive Advertising

In December 2021, the Massachusetts Attorney General filed a lawsuit against Aspen Dental Management, Inc., accusing the company of misleading advertising practices. The complaint alleged that Aspen Dental promoted "free" services, such as initial exams and x-rays, but subsequently billed patients for these services. Additionally, the company was accused of advertising acceptance of "all" insurance plans while not accepting MassHealth, Massachusetts' Medicaid program.

This lawsuit followed a 2014 settlement from a case filed in New York in which Aspen Dental agreed to pay nearly $1 million over similar allegations. Despite this prior agreement, the 2021 complaint suggested that the company continued its deceptive practices, violating the terms of the earlier settlement.

Corporate Dental Practices and Structure Impact Patient Care

Investigations have revealed that Aspen Dental's corporate structure may have influenced patient care decisions. Reports indicate that the company pressured staff to prioritize high-revenue procedures and implemented scheduling systems favoring more lucrative treatments. Such practices raise ethical concerns about the balance between business objectives and patient welfare.

Aspen Dental's corporate structure is influenced by its private equity ownership. In 2015, American Securities LLC led a recapitalization of Aspen Dental Management Inc., partnering with Ares Management and Leonard Green & Partners. This ownership structure has raised concerns about the influence of profit-driven motives on healthcare practices, since the Company is now oriented to produce returns to corporate shareholders rather than effective care to patients. This is why many States nationwide ban the corporate ownership of dental practices (and other high-trust professions, like lawyers and doctors) entirely.

What role does Slash Dental play?

Slash Dental exists to give patients a quick, easy, and cheap way to verify that the costs on their dental bills reflect fair market prices and the services actually rendered by the providers. We are the counterweight to the private equity dental model, which sees dentistry as a means to deliver overleveraged profits rather than high quality care. Companies like Aspen Dental should be on alert! With Slash Dental, the average American has a patient advocate on speed dial for pre- and post-dental billing issues.

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