The liquidation of Dentexia, marked by the closure of its dental care centers in France, leaves several thousand patients cheated or poorly treated.
The Ministry of Health seized last Friday the General Inspectorate of Social Affairs (Igas) on the file of low cost dental centers Dentexia. The inspectors will examine the conditions for “recovery and retention of medical records”, “continued treatment” and “compensation for financial and bodily injury” for patients whose dental care has suddenly stopped. The closure of these centers everywhere in France leaves many people without alternative.
To identify and support them, the Ministry of Health has set up a number via the regional health agencies (ARS) of Auvergne-Rhones-Alpes, Bourgogne-France-Comté and Ile-de-France. From Monday, May 2, you can call from Monday to Friday, 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. on 0 800 100 378.
Mutilated patients
The “Collective against Dentexia” already includes 2,200 victims. Some evoke a simple commercial dispute: invoices paid before the closing of the firms and therefore without obtaining any service. Others denounce a real “mutilation”. “These are patients who no longer have teeth, or who have implants awaiting prosthesis. Despair is deep, some have taken on heavy debt for care that they did not receive, others no longer have a social life, they are toothless. I receive suicide threats, ”the spokesperson for the collective, Abdel Aouacheria, told AFP.
All the more so as low-cost dental centers most often use low-cost prostheses, marketed by small foreign companies. Other dental offices do not always have the tools necessary to continue care. In addition, without legal expertise, practitioners often refuse to take care of these patients, “because they can be held jointly responsible”, adds Abdel Aouacheria.
Even beyond this case, the Igas mission will examine the situation of all low cost dental care centers. In order to avoid new structures that risk “jeopardizing the quality and safety of care and, depending on the case, causing financial harm to patients”. The mission will submit its report “before July 31, 2016” and will provide a progress report at the beginning of June.
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