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Please Read if Your Kids Are Patients of Kids Teeth, LLC
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Anonymous
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To 00:05
About as well prepared as the same parents are to take care of any other medical condition....we rely on the professionals to guide us before making any decisions. Do you take your child for a second opinion every time a doctor says they have an ear infection or cold? No. Because you trust the doctor and or dentist is serving the best interest of the child. I am sure many parents who visited Kids Teeth believed the best interest of their children were being served here as well. |
Anonymous
A large percentate here of posters have identified themselves as attorneys. Maybe skip the insults and stick to the facts. |
Anonymous
| I no longer live in Maryland, but my child was a former patient of both Dr. Barren and Dr. Alalouf and I wanted to add my two cents. We left Dr. Barren's practice because I didn't agree with his method of sedation to fill a cavity that my 4-year-old son had. To drink a liquid sedative seemed a little overboard, but I was told that it was necessary for the procedure to be done. I switched to Dr. Alalouf who was able to fill the cavity with no sedation at all (go figure after all of this contoversy?!) In my son's case, there was concrete evidence on the xray that a cavity did exist (as confirmed by both Barren and Alalouf). Shortly before we moved out of the area a year ago, Dr. Alalouf used a sealant for the "beginnings of a cavity" on my son's baby tooth. I didn't question it or ask to look at an x-ray because I trusted him as my son's dentist. After Dr. Alalouf's suspension was brought to light, I immediately starting thinking that maybe Alalouf did have a pattern of recommending expensive and uneccessary procedures. But how can I ever know? And that is my point--you never know in a situation like this, but you have to trust the dentist to be honest and do what's right for your child. I feel terrible for all the children who had unneccessary and expensive work done, especially under general anaesthesia. Their parents' claims seem to be valid, especially when the xrays were evaluated by other dentists. But I also feel terrible for the Alalouf family because the community is judging them based on the investigative news story yesterday and the gossip that will likely surround him. The whole thing is just very sad....especially seeing Dr. Barren go after another dentist like that. |
Anonymous
| pp, thank you for sharing your wo cents. I want htis to die down, I want this story to end. I feel like its ran its course, either you are going to stay with Dr. A or you are not. I however do have one question. A liquid sedative? Is that what Dr. Barren uses in his office? Does it knock the child out? or calms him? is this done in his office without any monitoring? that seems very scary. |
Anonymous
No, you don't question because an ear infection and a cold are basic, simple issues. If the doctor said the child has an ear infection and needs to be put under a general for treatment, you SHOULD question it. When the dentist says "your kid has 20 cavities" (and you didn't have any 6 months ago) and you need to go under a general for treatment, you SHOULD question it. A little bit of skepticism is needed and with resources like WebMD and MedLine, we all SHOULD question doctors. Remember, you know what they call the person who graduated last in their class in medical school, right? |
Anonymous
This was a few years ago, so I don't remember specifically, but I think I was instructed to give the liquid sedative to my child a few hours before the appointment. I think it was going to make him very drowsy and calm, but I didn't like the idea of him being "out of it" for the whole day. I think I asked about nitrous oxide and was told that they don't use it or that it doesn't always work. |
Anonymous
This is third hand, but I've heard of dentists giving valium prior to an appointment, to suppliment nitrous oxide, as a way to avoid general anesthesia. Does that sound right? |
Anonymous
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My children saw Dr. Alalouf last summer. So much work was done on one of their mouths that turned out to be unnecessary (including sealing BABY teeth with BPA-containing plastics!), so much of what he said turned out to be untrue when we saw another dentist, and it cost me so much when my insurance company refused to pay (and told me it wasn't unusual with this particular practice) that we are contemplating a lawsuit.
He is very personable and his demeanor is wonderful with the children. But the fact remains that he's lying to parents and doing work on children's mouths that is totally not necessary. He's also smart about it, picking only some children for extensive work and telling others their mouths are fine for years. And the billing sitution makes me so angry that it flushes my face to even think about it. If he weren't so seemingly trustworthy and so wonderful with our kids, we wouldn't believe him so readily and the work wouldn't get done. Bear in mind that most criminals who play these particular games are extremely charismatic. I'm going to give this a bit to see if a class-action suit is filed. If not, my attorney and I will be chatting... |
Anonymous
| good luck with that (suit). From past experience it is VERY hard to prove. Ask an attorney yourself. they'll tell you. Lots of proof is needed and since it took so long for the "board of experts" to close this case............good look to you. |
Anonymous
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To 15:41...This makes me crazy!! This is living proof that people will believe anything they read AND anything they hear!! BPA is is in some plastics...you are right about that. There were only 2 sealant materials containing BPA and that was years ago!! The product has since been removed from those 2 brands. You are adding fuel to the fire by accusing Dr. A of using said product! He does no such thing! None of the resin materials (white filling materials, flowables, sealnts) he uses contain BPA. All you had to do was ask to see the MSDS sheets that are on file in his office.
Also, it is not uncommon to occassionally place sealants on baby molars, especially if they have deep pits or grooves or are collecting stain on the chewing surface or if the child has had a decay history. It's a philosphy "thing". Some docs do it, some don't. Write back when you are educated!! |
Anonymous
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Thank you, thank you, thank you to the last poster. I did choose to have Dr. A place sealants on my child's molars (she did have deep grooves) after having several cavities filled (which, BTW, were easily seen on radiograph.) And I actually was the one who brought it up to Dr. A. He did not push it one single bit. He told me that we could take a wait and see attitude. But given my dental history I decided why wait and repetitively put my child thru fillings.
I am tired of all of these uneducated people spewing untruths. While I know it is unsettling if you begin to wonder if unnecessary work was done, it is still not right to spread more bad things around without facts. Character is at stake. Lives are affected. The whole thing is very sad. I hope people can take a deep breath and think about their own character as well while going thru this. |
Anonymous
| PP...No, thank you! Very well said! Thank you for having an open mind and seeing the BIG picture.....many, many reputations are at stake here. |
Anonymous
| Dr. A put sealants on my sons teeth 3 years ago without my consent or knowledge and charged my insurance company. When my insurance company rejected the claim because the sealants were already done by another dentist in another state Dr. A promptly refunded ALL my money for the sealants with an apology. I never had any other issues with the practice and found them to be professional and trustworthy. I must admit I am now confused and don't know what to believe. |
Anonymous
| PP...The sealants placed earlier may have popped off or were worn down and left the tooth surface once again exposed. This is not unusual, unfortunately. Placing a sealant is somewhat technique sensitive. Also, some products are much better than others and that makes a difference, too. In fact, a newly released sealant was just taken off the market. The company claimed problems with temperature in shipping, but the fact is it was a terrible product. We dental folks have to stay abreast of this kind of thing. |
Anonymous
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[ The whole thing is just very sad....especially seeing Dr. Barren go after another dentist like that.
The story on WJLA was very one sided and I must agree with this poster, it is extremely disturbing to see Dr. Barron's malicious persuit of Dr. Alalouf. I would also echo the sentiment to think about the manner in which each of us passing judgement on each other and on Dr. Alalouf. Reputations and families are at stake here. I pray that I am never judged for a mistake and/or the appearance of a mistake in the same way that Dr. Alaouf is being judged. This has escalated way too far. It's time to let this issue rest. Those who are sticking will and those who aren't won't. Regardless, it's time for the discussion to end. |