The New York City Department of Consumer and Worker Protection and its commissioner have sued two dental offices, claiming patients were tricked into paying for unnecessary procedures and signing them up for high-interest loans.
Commissioner Samuel A.A. Levine and the department filed a lawsuit on July 15 in the New York state Supreme Court against New York Family Dentistry and Canarsie Family Dentistry, both in Brooklyn. The suit claims the practices violated the city’s Consumer Protection Law, according to a press release dated July 29 from the City of New York.
In addition to reportedly pressuring patients into unnecessary procedures, an investigation revealed that both practices allegedly routinely exploited patients seeking affordable dental care by misrepresenting pricing and insurance coverage and signing them up for high-interest-rate loans without informed consent. Locking individuals into these loans resulted in unexpected debt and long-term effects on patients’ financial and physical health, according to the press release.
“No one in pain should be treated like a payday,” Levine said in the press release. “... The era of ripping off our most vulnerable is behind us.”
The department seeks to bar the two dental practices from engaging in this predatory conduct and secure civil penalties and full restitution for harmed consumers.
In the suit, the department and commissioner claim the dental offices took advantage of patients, who were often vulnerable or in pain. The practice often refused or failed to submit insurance claims in breach of their advertisements, and, instead, had patients apply for third-party medical payment products without disclosing that they were loans.
In one instance, an elderly patient -- a Medicare and Medicaid recipient -- went to Canarsie Family Dentistry in 2025 for a partial denture installation. However, a dentist reportedly told the patient that she needed to have her remaining teeth pulled, according to the press release.
Despite having coverage, the patient allegedly was told she needed to take out a loan to pay for treatment. Thinking she had no other option, she paid $1,000, and the practice purportedly opened a credit card in her name and charged the rest of her $5,000 bill. At subsequent appointments, she was allegedly told that she needed to spend an additional $10,000 to complete her dental treatment, according to the release.
Unfortunately, the woman’s permanent dentures were not properly made. A year later, the woman is experiencing declining physical health, she is unable to eat solid food, and her treatment still hasn’t been completed, per the press release.
A criminal complaint is merely an allegation. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
