Idaho dentists accused of abandoning patients for a 2nd time: 5 things to know

Meridian, Idaho-based Accure Dental & Dentures dentist Tera Greene, DDS, closed her practice despite not telling her patients she was leaving, according to the Idaho Statesman.

Here are five things to know:

1. Accure Dental & Dentures has gone silent and is not responding to patients' requests to obtain their medical records. Patient's are also now concerned about getting refunded for their prepaid dental procedures.

2. The dental office filed for bankruptcy in June 2017. Reports show the practice had around $55,000 in assets and owed more than $750,000 to creditors. Debts include overdue rent, unpaid taxes, fees to law firms, advertising bills and patient refund.

3. Patients began filing complaints against Accure Dental & Dentures in February 2012. Dr. Greene racked up 13 complaints. Two complaints from 2017 remain unresolved.

Now the Idaho Board of Dentistry is stepping in. A pending administrative complain is out against Dr. Greene for patient abandonment. The board sent the complain to Dr. Greene but has yet to hear back from her. This is the first patient abandonment case in Idaho.

4. This is not the first time Dr. Greene has been accused of abandoning her patients. She previously operated Accure Dental & Dentistry in Lynnwood, Wash.; however, she let her license expire in the state and left her patients hanging.

5. Between October 2013 and February 2014, Dr. Greene extracted all of a patient's teeth at her Lynnwood practice. The patient was undergoing surgery to have permanent dentures placed. After the patient's mouth healed, he returned to Dr. Greene's office to have the dentures set; however, Dr. Greene had closed the office without notifying her patients.

The patient prepaid Dr. Greene more than $5,000 for the dentures that included free denture cleanings, oral exams and a seven-year warranty. Accure Dental & Dentistry never provided the dentures or refunded the money, according to a state complaint.

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