In DSO + DPMs

Controversial DSO quietly changes name in Mississippi

Amid national controversy for alleged Medicaid fraud and misconduct, Kool Smiles in Tupelo, Miss., has changed its name to Sunnybrook Dentistry in Mississippi, according to the Daily Journal.

The Sunnybrook dental clinic is in the same location as the former Kool Smiles and has the same dentists, David Moore, DDS, and Victoria Graham, DDS. Mississippi Board of Dental Examiners confirmed Kool Smiles locations in Biloxi and Hattiesburg, Miss., were also seeking name changes.

Kool Smiles settled a federal lawsuit, without admission of guilt, for $23.9 million. That suit claimed the DSO committed Medicaid fraud. The DSO is also under investigation after a 2-year-old patient died under anesthesia at a Kool Smiles in Arizona in 2017.

Records filed March 26 with the Mississippi Secretary of State's Office indicate KS2 MS, a Kool Smiles company cited in the federal lawsuit, changed its name to Hattiesburg Road Dental and is operating as Sunnybrook Dentistry and Braces, the Daily Journal reports.

Kool Smiles CEO Dale Mayfield, DDS, is listed as the incorporator, president and director of Sunnybrook and the Hattiesburg Road Dental clinic, the Daily Journal said. A website for the Sunnybrook chain lists former Kool Smile addresses in Mississippi and Arkansas as fellow Sunnybrook offices. The dentists at the clinics are associated with Kool Smiles.

The DSO declined to comment to the Daily Journal.

A 2013 federal lawsuit claimed Kool Smiles committed fraud in eight states by upcoding and performing unnecessary dental work.

Dr. Mayfield, appointed to the Georgia Board of Dentistry in 2016, stepped down from the board in January 2018,after the federal lawsuit settlement and the patient's death made national news.

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