SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Twenty dentists were charged Wednesday with performing unnecessary and shoddy work on healthy teeth, skimping on anesthesia and filing phony bills to a state health insurance program for the poor.
The dentists are accused of defrauding the health program of $4.5 million. They also face charges of fraud, theft, child abuse, elder abuse and assault, Attorney General Bill Lockyer said.
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"These dentists put at risk the health and well-being of hundreds of children and adults by performing slipshod dental services that were unnecessary, ignoring health problems that needed tending, and even skimping on appropriate amounts of anesthesia before submitting patients to painful procedures," Lockyer said.