In an effort to reduce Medicaid costs, Alaska's Health and Social Services Department proposed slashing adult preventive dental services, according to The Associated Press.
Dentists
Adults are skipping trips to the dentist because of the cost of care, according to the CDC in a report from NBC affiliate WNYT.
A Mount Vernon, Mo., dentist pleaded guilty to submitting false Medicaid claims for two years, according to the Springfield Business Journal.
A former receptionist and bookkeeper for an Arlington Heights, Ill., dentist has been charged with stealing $625,526 over six years from the private practitioner, according to the Daily Herald.
Spokane, Wash., dentist James Stein-Sheridan Shelby, DDS, pleaded guilty March 19 to fraudulently prescribing opioids and distributing the narcotics to a former patient, according to The Spokesman-Review.
Five dentists making headlines:
Dentists can be teenagers' first opioid providers. After wisdom teeth removal, young adults are often prescribed opioids, which studies suggest leads to addiction.
The suspect in an Iowa dental practice robbery died shortly after the owner of the practice discovered him, according to local NBC affiliate KWCQ.
Six dental companies making headlines:
Local commercial real estate firm Menlo Group negotiated the purchased Peoria, Ariz.-based Deer Valley Dental Village for $5.625 million.