Aspen Dental
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Aspen Dental
| Industry | Dentistry |
|---|---|
| Founded | Syracuse, New York, New York, U.S. (1964) |
| Area served | United States |
| Services | Dental Care services Dentures |
| Website | [1] |
Aspen Dental is a company offering "complete dental care solutions," providing general and cosmetic dentistry and denture care for families and seniors.
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Contents
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History
Aspen Dental’s history started in Syracuse, New York, at a dental lab called Upstate Dental, which began operations in 1964. In 1981, Upstate Dental merged its lab services with centralized management services to initiate the new dental practice management concept. The company became Upstate Dental Management, LLC in 1997 when an investor acquired Upstate Family Denture Services, Inc., Upstate Denture Labs, Inc. and East Coast Dental Management, Inc. The last step in the creation of Aspen Dental came in 1998 when Upstate Dental and East Coast Dental merged and agreed on a common name: Aspen Dental Management, Inc.[1]
Aspen Dental is owned by Leonard Green & Partners, a private equity firm specializing in leveraged buyout transactions, particularly of middle market companies. As of 2010, the firm had with approximately $9 billion in assets under management.
Today
Aspen Dental serves in 21 states: Arizona, Connecticut, Florida, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New York, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Vermont, Washington and Wisconsin.
Each office is staffed for general dental care. [2][3][4][5]
Criticism
In 2010, after a probe of complaints regarding its discount services and finance programs, without admitting wrongdoing, Aspen Dental entered into an assurance of voluntary compliance agreement with the Pennsylvania Attorney General's office, agreeing to pay $175,000 of which $125,000 is earmarked to reimburse customers of the company and 50,000 for consumer protection probes. Complaints involved services provided before May 28, 2009.[6] According to then Pennsylvania Attorney General Tom Corbett:[7]
Consumers went to Aspen Dental because they believed they could obtain low-cost solutions to their dental problems, only to be faced with confusing limitations and restrictions on coupons and other promotions, or undisclosed details about financing
The voluntary agreement requires Aspen Dental to provide full and clear disclosure of all services, fees, payment and interest information, as well as information on all limitations or qualifications on offers.
References
- ^ Aspen Dental Timeline, http://aspendentalnews.com/index.php/about/timeline
- ^ Aspen Dental Office Locations, http://www.aspendent.com/offices.locations.html
- ^ RDH Magazine Article "Aspen Dental plans continued expansion in 2009", http://www.rdhmag.com/display_article/349998/54/none/none/IndNw/Aspen-Dental-plans-continued-expansion-in-2009
- ^ New office opening announcement, Newark Advocate, http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/newarkadvocate/access/1850649891.html?FMT=ABS&date=Aug+29,+2009
- ^ Aspen Dental Office Locations, http://www.aspendent.com/services.offerings.html
- ^ Matt Miller (October 14, 2010). "Aspen Dental pays $175,000 to settle customer complaints". PennLive.Com. http://www.pennlive.com/midstate/index.ssf/2010/10/aspen_dental_pays_175000_to_se.html. Retrieved February 8, 2012. "pact stems from a state probe of more than 50 consumer complaints"
- ^ "Attorney General Corbett announces $175,000 consumer settlement with Aspen Dental" (Press release). Pennsylvania Attorney General. October 13, 2010. http://www.attorneygeneral.gov/press.aspx?id=5649. Retrieved February 8, 2012.
External links
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