AG Sues MA Dental Chain Over 'Bait-And-Switch' Ads

NATICK, MA — Attorney General Maura Healey is suing a chain of dental offices over deceptive advertising practices, alleging the company lured consumers into stores with deals and services that didn't materialize.

Healey filed a lawsuit Friday under the state Consumer Protection Law against Aspen Dental, which operates hundreds of dental practices across the U.S., including 25 in Massachusetts in Natick, Worcester and Auburn and beyond.

According to Healey, Aspen advertised free initial appointments for people with dental emergencies, but would later bill the patients for those visits. The chain also failed to disclose limitations on some offers, like money-back guarantees on dentures, she said.

"Aspen Dental took advantage of vulnerable consumers in need of dental care and used misleading advertising to lure them into their offices under false pretenses," Healey said in a news release.

A spokesperson for the dental chain has said Healey's suit is based on "old information," according to media reports.

"The Attorney General is relying on old information gathered during the course of an investigation that’s now lasted for more than 5-years. They try to make up in sound and fury what the charges lack in merit," the spokesperson told Spectrum 1. "The approach is obviously designed to grab headlines. Not surprisingly, we intend to fight this case."

Healey previously sued Aspen Dental in 2014, ending up with a $990,000 settlement. That suit charged that Aspen made "misleading advertisements, unlawfully charged consumers for treatments weeks or months before they were rendered, and failed to provide refunds," according to Healey's office.