2 Brooklyn Dental Practices Sued by The City

Commissioner Samuel A.A. Levine and the New York City Department of Consumer and Worker Protection on Wednesday announced an enforcement action filed in New York Supreme Court against two Brooklyn-based dental offices, New York Family Dentistry and Canarsie Family Dentistry, for violating the city's Consumer Protection Law.

A DCWP investigation found that both dental practices routinely exploit patients seeking affordable dental care by misrepresenting pricing and insurance coverage, pressuring them into unnecessary procedures, and signing them up for high-interest rate loans without informed consent—resulting in unexpected debt and long-term impacts on both financial and physical health, according to officials. 

DCWP seeks to ban both dental practices from this predatory conduct and secure civil penalties and full restitution for harmed consumers.

Both New York Family Dentistry and Canarsie Family Dentistry take advantage of southeast Brooklyn’s predominately Black community, targeting the elderly, those with emergency dental needs, and New Yorkers with low incomes or on public assistance. The offices advertise low-cost dental services, including deals for bundles of services. An emergency visit including “a problem focused exam, x-rays needed, and necessary medication prescriptions” may be advertised as an affordable “$99,” but additional costs are not disclosed upfront. Despite advertising that most insurance plans are accepted, neither dental practice submits claims to insurers and regularly prevent consumers from utilizing their paid-for insurance benefits, officials said.

The dentists exploit their trusted position as health care providers, regularly “upselling” and pressuring patients into unnecessary services not covered by insurance. Once patients are seated in the dental chair, often in pain, they are told that additional treatments are required and that upfront payment is necessary. Both dental practices target elderly patients, many of whom are on Medicare and/or Medicaid and cannot afford out-of-pocket payments, according to officials. 

Many times the consumers are pushed to apply for third-party medical payment products, including medical credit cards. The offices did not disclose the many critical terms and conditions, or that such products are in fact loans with APRs as high as 26.99%. In some cases, the offices actually sign patients up for these loans without their consent or knowledge, officials said.

“No one in pain should be treated like a payday,” Levine said in a statement. “When dental providers exploit New Yorkers who desperately need care, New York City will halt their predatory practices and hold them accountable. The era of ripping off our most vulnerable is behind us.”

In one 2025 case, an elderly patient went to Canarsie Family Dentistry for a partial denture installation. A dentist told her that she needed additional treatment requiring the extraction of all her remaining teeth. Despite being a Medicare and Medicaid recipient, she was informed that she needed to take out a loan to pay for the services. Believing she had no other option, she paid approximately $1,000 out of pocket, and the dentist’s office charged the remaining $5,000 to a medical credit card opened in her name before services were completed, officials said.

During subsequent appointments, the patient was informed that she needed to pay an additional $10,000 to complete the dental treatments. To add insult to injury, the dentist failed to properly install the permanent dentures. A year later, the services for which the patient was charged have still not been completed, while she suffers declining physical health and is unable to eat solid food, according to officials.