SmileCrafters

October 10, 2017Dear [redacted],Thank you for your communication regarding [redacted]'s complaint towards SmileCrafters Orthodontics. I am the sole owner of this company and also own two other practices that are limited to Orthodontics. was suprised to receive this letter, must admit, that after 19...

years of practicing dentistry and treating probably 15,000 patients, this is the first time I have received a complaint of this nature.A few things I would like to point out, specific to Orthodontics that unless you were in the field you wouldn't necessarily know. When [redacted] writes that we 'unnecessarily had her return after braces were completed thereby 'milking her insurance' that simply is not truthful. insurance payment for orthodontics occurs for a set amount to complete the case. Whether it takes you 6 visits or 24 visits, we collect the same fee from the insurance company. it's therefore more profitable if you will, to see the patient less. There is no additional billing that occurs for those return visits, and they are simply to ensure that the patient is wearing their retainers and their teeth are staying well-aligned.Our staff who told [redacted] that she must pay first before we send the labwork out did so because she looked up her ledger and noticed that mom was nearly $1000 in arrears paying her portion of her daughter's treatment fees. Since we had already taken the braces off (some practices, I'm sorry to say, leave braces on until the account balance is fully paid) my employee was simply trying to ensure mom wouldn't claim a 'free' retainer from us. When mom complained to my office manager, we decided to go ahead and process the retainer, and [redacted] has paid her portion, although her account as of today remains over $800 in arrears for work already completed.The reason have never gone after people very 'hard' for money owed is quite frankly, the parent is often struggling and the kid would then suffer. This is probably why my practices have not had these complaints before; we generally are very fair in these situations and seek to put the patient first. I am not certain where this complaint will be posted or whether there is any remedy for it, but I do not believe her side of the story fully reflects all that transpired.Thank you for your attention to this matter.Kind regards,Manish L.DDS, MMSC Owner and Orthodontist