North Haven Dentist Sentenced In Medicaid Fraud Case: Officials

NORTH HAVEN, CT — A dentist with an office in North Haven was sentenced Monday for defrauding Medicaid by billing the government health insurance program for dental work he did not perform, state officials announced.

Christian O’Connor, 54, a dentist and owner of Renew Dental in North Haven, was sentenced in Hartford Superior Court to five years in prison, execution of that time suspended, with three years of a conditional discharge, according to a news release from the Connecticut Division of Criminal Justice.

O’Connor paid $200,484.52 in restitution and was ordered not to act as a provider in the Medicaid program, officials said.

O’Connor had pleaded nolo contendere to charges of first-degree larceny by defrauding a public community and health insurance fraud on Nov. 20, 2023.

“The investigation by the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit of the Office of the Chief State’s Attorney determined that between 2016 and 2020, O’Connor routinely billed for restorations on multiple teeth, on the same date of service, for numerous patients,” officials wrote in the news release. “A review of the dental records could not substantiate the work was performed. Numerous patients interviewed denied the major dental work was done even though O’Connor billed for performing this work sometimes two and even three times on the same patient on the same teeth over a period of time, occasionally billing for work on teeth that already had been extracted. The investigation focused only on the claims for restorations on 12 teeth on the same day for the same patient.”

The investigation found that O’Connor was paid by the Connecticut Medicaid Program for the unperformed work the amount of $200,484.52, according to officials.

“By being found guilty to a program-related felony, the defendant is also subject to mandatory exclusion as a health care provider to certain federally funded health programs pursuant to federal and state laws and regulations,” officials wrote. “Medicaid is a government program that provides health coverage to low-income and disabled individuals, and is financed both by the federal and state governments and administered by the Connecticut Department of Social Services.”

Anyone with knowledge of suspected fraud or abuse in the public healthcare system is asked to contact the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit at the Office of the Chief State’s Attorney at 860-258-5986.