Sun greatly overstates risk of dental rip-offs

A recent article by Kaiser Health News and reprinted in The Baltimore Sun and other newspapers, (“Some dentists push unnecessary procedures” June 7), sadly cherry-picked a select few dentists performing unnecessary procedures across the country to boost profits for their practice, some as many as 30 years ago, while ignoring the hundreds of thousands of honest, hard-working dentists providing oral health care to their patients. It was as if the reporter simply searched “nightmare dental cases” in Google.

Dentists aren’t naïve enough to think that this doesn’t happen, but in Maryland we have worked hard to root out these sorts of practices. Maryland law states that only Maryland dentists can own, manage or operate a dental practice and the decisions that affect patient care. As was outlined in the article, some non-dentist-owned firms have skirted the law and created pressure on individual dentists to perform practices not in the best interest of the patient in order to increase the bottom line for the non-dentist ownership. Fortunately, the Maryland General Assembly passed legislation in 2020 that became law that would ensure continuation of the existing law that protects the dentist/patient relationship from outside interference.

The Maryland law also ensures that a person under contract who attempts to testify or provide information to the Maryland General Assembly, the Board of Dental Examiners, or a court of law regarding wrongdoing, unethical or illegal behavior is able to do so without violating his or her contract. It’s absolutely mind-boggling that The Sun would run an article like this just as people who have delayed dental care because of COVID-19 are finally seeking the help they need. Please don’t push these patients away from the care they need with your scare tactics.

Chris Liang, Potomac

The writer is president of the Maryland State Dental Association.