Woodbury dental practice's sudden closure shocks patients who paid up front for implants
WOODBURY, Minn. — A Woodbury dental office is closed, leaving patients unsure of their next steps.
Meg Omlie has been a satisfied customer of Woodbury Dental Arts since August of last year.
"They were actually going to order my final set of teeth, my uppers, and so the process is almost finished," Omlie said.
She was super excited to wake up Tuesday to an automated call from the dental office.
"I drove from St. Paul to Woodbury and then there were other people waiting, and then somebody said, 'Yep, they shut down and abandoned the patients,'" Omlie said.
She joined about six other clients in the parking lot, all in various stages of their dental implant journey.
Off camera, we spoke with another patient there to get her final implants put in, and another who just had all his teeth pulled last Friday
"Shocked, heartbroken, felt sick, it just was completely out of nowhere," Omlie said.
The group is now working together to find answers as to why their dental office is closed.
"I talked to somebody last week making this appointment and they gave no indication that there was anything wrong," she said.
Omlie and other patients tell WCCO they had to pay upfront to get their dental implants.
"They require payment in advance of about $30,000," she said. "I want answers, I want, you know, my treatment completed."
In the meantime, patients continue to get robo calls, reminding them of appointments.
"I was supposed to have a consultation at 2 o'clock, and then I happened to look online and I saw that they were closed and that there was already a news report on it," Destiny Peck, a potential patient, said.
Peck came to see for herself. She feels lucky she didn't lose any money.
Clinic employees also blindsided
Two Woodbury Dental Arts employees say they too are feeling left in the dark.
"We had no clue," said one employee.
They want their patients to know they too were shocked when the dental office closed.
"We care about what's going to happen to them. We didn't know either," said another employee.
The women, who wanted their identities protected because both are actively searching for work, say they learned of the closing on Friday morning.
"We happened to be in the office doing surgery that morning and got that message in the middle of surgery," said an employee.
The women claim they haven't been paid in weeks.
"Three weeks without pay," said an employee.
Their big concern is their patients, all in various stages of their dental implant journey.
"We've worked with them for a long time. We get really close to them," said an employee.
These workers say patients have no access to their records or the money they paid upfront for implants.
"I want justice for our patients," said an employee. "Be held accountable, take care of your patients or find a way to have your patients taken care of."
The women say they've been told there is no way for them to get paid for the time they already worked.
What we know about Dr. Marko Kamel
Dr. Marko Kamel's license was temporarily suspended last May for "incompetence."
He was allowed to go back to work in June, but according to a Minnesota Board of Dentistry order, when he didn't follow the state law and rules, his license was temporarily suspended again in November for the same thing.
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WCCO contacted Kamel's attorney and got no response. Our crew even went by his home and no one was there.
Kamel's patients have filed a report with the Minnesota Attorney General's Office. They tell WCCO it could be several weeks of investigation before they could learn anything.
