Her new dentist said gingivitis; her old dentist said baloney

Lorna Dewalle has been to the dentist every six months and takes care of her teeth.

So when she moved to the Triangle last summer from Texas, she found a new dentist to keep up her regimen.

In January she went for a cleaning at Spelios and Associates in Cary. But she thinks the dentist tried to persuade her to do an expensive procedure her clean mouth didn't need.




So Dewalle contacted Triangle Troubleshooter about it.

At her appointment, Dewalle said, the hygienist would not clean her teeth until the dentist saw her to determine what kind of cleaning she would need - something Dewalle had never experienced before.

The dentist said she had gingivitis and severe tartar buildup and would need to do a full mouth debridement before routine cleaning was done. Debridement refers to the removal of plaque and calculus that have accumulated on the teeth.

Dewalle said she had to wait three months for this cleaning appointment, but the dentist's office had an opening that afternoon for the debridement procedure. The treatment, she said, would have cost her $400 out of pocket.

"I knew based on my history and oral hygiene, this couldn't be possible," she wrote in a formal complaint against the dental practice.

So she left.

Later, she called her former dentist in Texas and asked if she'd ever needed this procedure. The answer was no. She then found a new dentist, and that dentist, too, said she did not need a debridement.

Dewalle turned to www.insiderpages.com to check reviews on the practice and found complaints similar to hers.

She has since tried to get the dentist's office to reverse the charges on her insurance for X-rays and for a new patient exam. That's because her insurance pays for X-rays only once every five years, and a new patient exam once every six months. But the practice won't refund her money, she said.

So about two weeks ago, she filed a complaint with the N.C. Dental Society, which provides nonbinding mediation to patients who have disagreements with dentists. Dewalle, who gave Troubleshooter a copy of the complaint, is waiting to hear about her mediation date.

Troubleshooter tried contacting the dental practice in Cary, but no one called us back. So we contacted Mitch Spelios, president and COO of Spelios and Associates, based in Alpharetta, Ga. He did not know of Dewalle's case, but said he is confident in his staff's clinical assessments.

His practices (there are several in the Triangle) have been through mediations with the dental society, he said, and each time the society has sided with his dentists. Spelios said the dentist who saw Dewalle is no longer with the Cary practice, but he did not say why.

Troubleshooter learned that Dewalle can also make a complaint to the N.C. State Board of Dental Examiners, which is affiliated with the state Attorney General's Office and oversees dentist licenses.

"Every case that comes to us gets investigated and reviewed by dentists," said Bobby White, the board's attorney. "We'd love to hear from her."


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