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Tue 17 Jul, 2007 02:17 pm
NEW YORK, June 26 (UPI) -- A New York dentist is under investigation for billing Medicaid for filling 52 cavities in a single mouth, a feat he claimed took no more than an hour or two.
"This dentist never should have been paid in the first place," State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli told the New York Post. "Human beings typically have 32 teeth. When a dentist tries to get paid for filling 52 teeth in one mouth in one day, it should raise some red flags."
The dentist, who practices in Brooklyn and lives on Long Island, is under investigation by the state Education Department, which is in charge of licensing for dentists and says it first learned of the dubious fillings from the Post, and the Health Department, which supervises Medicaid.
"We're looking at every dollar he's ever submitted through Medicaid," a Health Department spokeswoman said.
The dentist reportedly billed Medicaid for work on two other patients the same day that he billed for the 52 fillings.
The dentist's wife told the Post that her husband has been practicing in the United States for 30 years with no legal problems.
It is obvious that he WAS perpetrating a scam. But it is possible to have 52 fillings, even though people have only 32 teeth. (but not all at once) Dentists charge for fillings by the surfaces, not the tooth. Therefore, you could have one tooth with 2,3, or even four fillings.
That's what I thought... like you said, you could have 2 or more cavities in one tooth.. but apparently they didn't think that was the case with this guy.
Sure, but you expect to see 52 fillings done in an hour or two?
NO way... I've been in just for a regular cleaning and I had braces and it took at least an hr just for that! So I doubt there's anyway he could have done 52 fillings in 2 hours or less for that matter.
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