05:57 PM EST on Thursday, October 30, 2003

By STUART WATSON / 6NEWS

6NEWS Sara Asprogiannis

The Medicaid Dental Centers bill taxpayers millions of dollars while some kids pay the price in pain.

Sara Asprogiannis, 6, needed a lot of dental work so her family turned to Medicaid. That's when they discovered there are 13,000 kids waiting for Medicaid dental care just in Catawba County.

There are 13,000 kids and only one dentist.

“One dentist that will take Medicaid. That's very sad,” said Sara’s mom Audrey Asprogiannis.

So the Aspogiannis’ say the health department referred them out of county to the Medicaid Dental Center on Freedom Drive in Charlotte.

It seemed like the answer to a prayer until they saw the work.

Sara’s father mark said he was very upset when he learned the dental center pulled three of Sara's teeth and put stainless steel caps on 14 of them - all in one sitting.

They also did 14 so-called ‘baby root canals’ by treating the nerve in every one of her fourteen teeth.

“Somebody hurt my daughter and I don't usually cry, but when it comes to my kids and family, they have hurt my kids,” said Mark with tears in his eyes.

The Aspogiannis' had to come to Charlotte to find a dentist because most dentists don't take Medicaid.

Most dentists don't take Medicaid for one simple reason.

“You're not making any money,” said Charlotte dentist Dr. Jeffrey West. “The reimbursement is exceeding low and it's very difficult to pay your bills.”

But the Medicaid Dental Centers are apparently paying their bills and making money. A lot of money.

The centers run ads online for dentists - no experience with children necessary - starting pay $160,000 a year.

“That I find hard to believe,” Dr. West said. “I can't fathom that unless they're running these patients through one after another. That's what you'd have to do.”

Dentist after dentist said running patients through one after another is the way to maximize profit under Medicaid.

Dr. Meg Lockery is past president of the NC Academy of Pediatric Dentistry.

“They would have to be billing quite a lot or producing a lot of dentistry,” Lockery said.

And they are billing for a lot of dentistry.

A 6NEWS investigation found cases of kids getting 15, 16, 17 teeth pulled or drilled in one sitting.

The 6NEWS Investigators learned there is a financial incentive for Medicaid dental centers to do all drilling at one time.

Not only that, there is a financial incentive for employees too.

Former employees told 6NEWS the Medicaid dental centers paid bonuses based on the how much work they billed.

Sources told 6NEWS employees kept track of the work on a calendars in the break room with each day color-coded based on how much work was done to kids' teeth.

We’re told dentists and dental assistants were paid bonuses based on how much they billed the kids' dental plans, mainly Medicaid.

Most of those bills come to Medicaid under the name of one man, Dr. Michael DeRose.

As partner in the Medicaid Dental Centers, Dr. DeRose's group has become North Carolina's leading Medicaid biller.

Dental bills under the group have more than doubled from $6 million to $14 million in one year. But Dr. DeRose doesn't even live in North Carolina. He lives in Pueblo, Colorado.

He is a part owner of two chains of dental clinics in six states that cater to Medicaid.

Dr. DeRose and his wife bought a new home in West Pueblo in January with seven bathrooms, bidet, pool, and even an elevator. The cost was $3.4 million.

6NEWS tried to ask Dr. DeRose how much money he makes off Medicaid. His first response was to hire an attorney with the largest law firm in North Carolina and threaten to sue us.

Late Wednesday that lawyer faxed 6NEWS a three page statement saying:

The Asprogiannis' and all parents sign a consent form.

The clinics do as much work as possible at once because Medicaid patients often cancel appointments.

The clinic's operators say average daily billing is only one factor in bonuses - other factors include total team effort, absences and patient satisfaction.