Please Read if Your Kids Are Patients of Kids Teeth, LLC

[Anonymous]

The fact of the matter is Dr. Alalouf is a scheeming, money hungry, lying. immoral man who dangerously uses children to achieve his goals. My daughter was a patient of his when she was 3-years-old in 2003. He told us she had 5 cavities that were so deep they were going to hit a nerve. At the time I thought that sounded crazy since I have never heard of any kids with nerve issues in the mouth, however trusted the "Doctor" since so many friends loved him and we were recommended to him through our pediatrician. We assumed it would be an office procedure, however he strongly suggested a hospital visit due to the severity of the cavities. After a so-called "attempt" of an office procedure....of which we were not allowed to be in the room with our 3-year-old which lasted only minutes....he came out saying she was uncooperative and had to go to Shady Grove.( Of which was a much costlier procedure)

The next week we went to the hospital and did the procedure under anesthesia. Upon waking she aspirated where she had difficulty breathing and began turning blue. The hospital nurses had to declare a "Code Blue" where doctors came rushing into the room to help revive her. Thankfully she is OK.

Since then we switched practices and found out how unecessary the entire procedure was based on X-rays and examination. Where Dr. Alalouf went to Shady Grove a few times every week, most all other pediatric dentists go much less frequently. Our new dentist was amazed how often he went and felt back then Dr. Alalouf was overdoing it. The new dentist stated he was getting many similar stories from patients that had seen Alalouf.

Since most people don't know about teeth and dental issues, and we are told about a problem, especially with our kids, we must be able to trust the doctors we go to. We must know that they have the kids best interest in mind. That is certainly not the case with Dr. Alalouf. That is very sad because, like many of you have mentioned, he is a very nice guy, but sometimes that is not enough.

We now see Dr. Baron in Montgomery Village and are very happy.

[Anonymous]

I'm sure your situation was very difficult, however, there are nerves in the mouth. If there weren't there would be no pain. Untreated cavities (called caries) in the report are very dangerous. Infections in teeth from untreated cavities can cause infections in the brain.

As for your situation - if you were so concerned in 2003, did you contact the Dental board? Did Dr. Baron direct you to? Dr. Baron seems very involved in this. Dr. Alalouf is very popular - I wonder how some of the other dentists feel about that? I know a few people who have seen Dr. Baron and would not go back because of work poorly done and very scared children.

[Anonymous]

I REALLY AGREE WITH THE LAST POSTING.

[Anonymous]

Just to quantify this discussion a little from the actual report:

Dr A received his license in 1997
There were 2 complaints in 7/2002
2 around 9/2005
and 1 in 10/2006

Thats 5 complaints in 11 years.

I'm sure each person had a valid reason to complain, but 1 complaint every other year is a pretty good record for anyone who does the volume of work someone like this must have. Lets say he has 20 patients a day, 100 a week. Thats around 5000 per year. In 10 years thats 50,000 patients! he has 5 complaints over that time. Thats .0001% or 1/10,000 of 1%. I'm guessing thats a good number.

[Anonymous]

It is hard to believe that people would be so venomous!!! Posting horrible thoughts about this good Doctor as well as spreading ill will towards an upstanding member of our community is unfathomable! Why would anyone be so vindictive? Think of this good man's family, he has 3 small children and he intended no harm! Seems some people out there need to find a different cause to get on their soap boxes about!!!!

[Anonymous]

This is just SICK! My children have been going to see Dr. Alalouf for 4 1/2 years. When we first arrived at his practice my son's teeth were a mess! His front 4 top teeth were severly decayed. Dr. Alalouf gave me 3 options: do nothing- which would result in infection, pull teeth which meant my son wouldn't have had teeth until the adult teeth grew in or rebuid the teeth. I opted for rebuilding. It was done in the office and my son experienced no pain or discomfort. His teeth looked GREAT! They have sice fallen out and his adult teeth are healthy.

My other son has an aversion to a lot of tactile stimuli. He hates sunblock application, hair cuts and teeth cleaning. Dr. Alalouf and I talked at length about the best treatment option for my son. Together we decided that my son would have his teeth cleaned 3x a yr instead of 2x so he wouldn't be subjected to longer visits with more cleaning. My son happily cooperates at each visit and had never had a cavity.

My family is sticking with Dr. Alalouf and his staff.

Anonymous - Gaithersburg, MD

[Anonymous]

It is AMAZING how the parents who have had nothing but good feelings about Dr. A. and his practice have all of a sudden decided their children are in danger. Dr. A. is a wonderful, caring and GIVING professional. My family sees him and I will continue to refer all my friends to see him. I "have" read the report and strongly AGREE that there are two sides to every story. Don't be so quick to judge!

[Anonymous]

Wow, I was just forwarded this by a friend in the neighborhood. I have been a Licensed Dental Hygienist for over 20 years. 11 years with the same Dentist in a General Practice and 5 years doing temp work through Hygiene Associates and 5 years in Pediatric Dentistry. Mostly in 2 different offices. I am astounded by what I am hearing. One that it took so long for patients to confront the issue of their childs safety. But also the vehement nature of these postings. I have seen many things in Dentistry: some questionable mostly all good with the comfort, safety and well being of the patient first and foremost. Every Dentist, I correct myself, every human being is guilty of not being perfect. I have also read the allegations and admit that it sounds pretty bad. The board has debated and weighed the facts and have suspended his license for 4 months. The man, not just a faceless Dentist, has been reprimanded for what happened. His family has also suffered through this over a long period of time. How can anybody judge the personal hell a person can withstand before they say I can't fight anymore: make this stop. It is time to heal and move on. Pediatric Dentistry is a specialty with educational requirement and continuing education requirements. The General practices that I have worked in are a wonderful place to have treatment, but also recognize a Pediatric Dentist is going to treat and diagnose differently due to the nature of the specialty. I would recommend going to the ADA website and looking up the licensing laws and the reccommendations for treatment. You will notice that General Anesthesia is the recommended route of treatment for difficult (does any parent really want to admit or acknowledge their child is difficult) patients. A watch/ wait and see mentality is the option of the parent. An option that in my opinion could have been used in all of these cases but because Dr. Alalouf described the need for treatment(and I am assuming this was done throughly because so many parents have opted to do this)the procedures were done. Read all the iinformation, go to the board, ask lot's and lot's of questions. Go to the American Dental Association Website. I believe all Dr's should be held accountable but stop the witch hunt. It is destroying lives. If any of your names were posted on a public forum for any length of time I can imagine that quite a few things could come out of the closet. Enough is enough.

[Anonymous]

The American Dental Hygienist Association website is also an excellent resource for information on children and the special care they need to be treated.

[Anonymous]

How SAD is this!

I take all of my kids Dr. Alalouf. You will NEVER meet a nicer, more giving person - as a professional or as an outstanding member of the community! 2 of my children have suffered traumas to their front teeth at different times. He comforted them and while one is still in the process of being fixed, my son's front teeth look perfect!

Here is an email he sent.

After being charged with violations by the Maryland Dental Board, and after consultation with my attorneys, I agreed to a Consent Order to resolve those accusations. We did not negotiate any terms of the factual findings and do not necessarily agree with each and every factual statement. I found cavities on examination of some patients, and some other dentists did not see those cavities when looking at the x-rays. The Board did not like the amount of times I used general anesthesia for young patients, even though the parents had agreed that such treatment was best for their children.

I have resolved these charges with the Board. I have been suspended from May 2 to August 31, 2008. During this time, I will be taking educational courses. I will return to my office and continue to practice dentistry on September 2, 2008.

The bottom line is that this charge has been looming and the heartache it was creating was too big, so he decided to settle. It doesn’t mean that he is just giving in because he knows he was wrong, it means he just wants this situation behind him and to be able to move on. If the Board was so concerned with his ethics and ability to be a good dentist, they would not have waited over 5 years to strip him of his license and it would be much longer than 4 months. This man is a dentist…not a p.r. guy and this whole thing has spiraled way beyond his control.

To make a long story short, I will DEFINITELY continue seeing him and would not hesitate to recommend him to anyone!

[Anonymous]

Stupid question for the person in charge of the web page. Why does the most dated post stay on the first page while the new posts are buried on page 6? It makes for quite a lot of reading to get to the most current information.

[Anonymous]

I never thought about that, its true, you gotta weed through the one page of bad before you get to all the wonderful responses. It doesnt really matter everyone that knows Dr. A does not need to see it in words. The amount of support Dr. A is seeing right now, no doubt overshadows the rest of hte "bandwagon". We cant wait until September.

[Anonymous]

Just to clarify the report, his license was suspended for ONE YEAR, but it appears he negotiated a reduction to four months. It's great that so many of you think this is "not a long time", I however feel any doctor who has had his/her license suspended is not worth taking the risk for my family.

[Anonymous]

Everyone is obviously entitlted to their own opinions and decisions as whether or not to remain with Dr. Alalouf's practice. Yet not a one of us should be judge and jury for others. Make up your own mind. But stop slandering this poor, good man. He has agonized enough and continuing with harsh comments and spewed venom can serve no good purpose. The case has been made and sanctioned. Now leave him be and hopefully this witch hunt will end here as it should!

[Anonymous]

I was forwarded to this today by a friend. She knew we've gone to Dr. Alalouf for years, and she knew I had had doubts about him. My son has had extensive work done and he would often use the same line "if it were my own son, this is what I'd do". (after a few times, it sounded so insincere) I was also a bit turned off by the heavy marketing tactics. I felt unsure about Dr. Alalouf at times as it seems my son ALWAYS needed expensive work, but I love the staff in his office. They are all so warm and friendly and go out of their way to make the kids feel confortable. After hearing this today my two immediate thoughts were whether all of my sons often painful procedures were necessary and did his staff have any idea of this before hand (maybe they in fact reported him). I am mad at myself that I didn't trust my instrincts to switch practices beforehand. We have checkups this month and we will be swtiching dentist.