Here are eight legal settlements from this year involving DSOs and dental practices, totaling more than $11.8 million:
1. Park Dental, which has more than 50 offices in Minnesota and Wisconsin, reached a settlement in a class-action lawsuit stemming from its 2024 data breach. The settlement agreement includes up to $300,000 in attorney fees, up to $2,500 for class representatives, credit monitoring and additional payments to eligible class members, according to court documents.
2. Tampa, Fla.-based Coast Dental agreed to a settlement of up to $3.84 million to resolve a class action lawsuit alleging that it sent marketing texts and calls to consumers who had asked to opt out. Eligible class members can receive a prorated cash payment of up to $59 or a voucher of up to $99 for an electric toothbrush sold by Coast Dental. Final amounts depend on how much remains in the settlement fund after expenses.
3. Shen Smiles, a dental practice in Tamaqua, Pa., agreed to pay $140,000 in a settlement with HHS to resolve potential HIPAA violations. The HHS Office for Civil Rights launched an investigation after receiving a complaint that the practice failed to provide an individual with timely access to their protected health information. An investigation determined that Shen Smiles failed to implement PHI policies and procedures to comply with the Privacy and Breach Notification Rules and that the practice did not reasonably safeguard PHI from any use or disclosure that would violate the requirements of the Privacy Rule.
4. Community Dental Care, a nonprofit dental clinic with five locations in Minnesota, agreed to settle a class action lawsuit stemming from a cyberattack that affected 134,903 patients. Class members — individuals whose personal information was accessed in the breach — may submit claims for up to $5,000 in documented out-of-pocket losses incurred between Dec. 20, 2024, and Oct. 19, 2026, including costs related to identity theft, credit monitoring, ID replacement and related expenses.
5. Las Vegas-based Absolute Dental gained final court approval in August to settle a class-action lawsuit related to its 2025 data breach for $3.3 million. Approved class members include all living U.S. residents whose personal information was potentially compromised in the incident. The settlement class is estimated to include more than 1.2 million members, according to court documents.
6. Three Washington dental practices agreed to pay a combined $1 million to resolve allegations of fraudulent Medicaid billing. All three practices were accused of submitting unjustified charges to the state Medicaid program. Toothdocs agreed to pay a $500,000 settlement, while Comfort Dental Vancouver will pay $230,000 and Dentist at Felida will pay $360,300.
7. Langhorne, Pa.-based Infinity Dental agreed to pay $1 million to settle allegations that it misled patients into purchasing expensive dental services by falsely claiming Medicare would cover the costs. As part of the settlement, Alpha Dental will pay roughly $517,000 in restitution to affected patients, $232,983 in civil penalties and $250,000 in investigation costs. Alpha Dental is also prohibited from misrepresenting insurance coverage and from assisting patients with third-party financing arrangements beyond noting that credit options are available.
8. Chicago-based Aspen Dental will pay $2 million in penalties and $300,000 in restitution to settle allegations that it unlawfully interfered with dental operations and engaged in misleading advertising. Additionally, the company agreed to several injunctive terms, including agreements to not replace existing practice owners with dentists of its choosing, not owning the property for dental practices and not basing service fees off metrics such as practice revenue.
