Dentist Who Purposely Broke Patients' Teeth Hears His Fate

Update: A Wisconsin dentist has been found guilty of purposely breaking his patients' teeth so he could rake in millions from insurance companies to fix them. Per the Washington Post, 61-year-old Scott Charmoli of Jackson was convicted on Thursday of five counts of health care fraud and two counts of making false statements about treatments needed by his patients. Charmoli "performed far more crowns than most dentists in Wisconsin," with evidence from prosecutors showing he billed more than $4.2 million for crown procedures between 2016 and 2019, numbering more than 700 per year during that period, per a statement from the US Attorney's Office of the Eastern District of Wisconsin. Many patients also forked over hefty copays. Charmoli could see up to 10 years behind bars for each of the health care fraud charges, and a max of five years for each of the false statement counts. He'll be sentenced in June. Our original story from December 2020 follows:

A Wisconsin dentist is accused of damaging his patients' teeth so he could bill insurance companies for crown procedures, the AP reports. Scott Charmoli, 60, of Grafton, was charged Tuesday in federal court with eight counts of health care fraud and two counts of false statements. If convicted, he faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Charmoli is accused of falsely telling patients that they needed crowns and then using his drill to break off parts of their teeth during the procedure. Charmoli submitted X-rays and photographs of the chipped teeth to insurance companies to obtain coverage for the crowns, the indictment says.

Authorities say Charmoli performed more than $2 million worth of crown procedures between January 2018 and August 2019. Charmoli's attorney, Nila Robinson, did not immediately respond to an email message left Thursday by the AP. An arraignment and plea hearing are scheduled for Dec. 30. "The Justice Department focuses on prosecuting health care fraud not only to protect health care funds but also to protect patients who entrust their well being to providers," US Attorney Matthew Krueger said in a statement.

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