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Kool Smiles

Kool Smiles, PC
Private
Industry Dentistry
Founded East Lake, Atlanta, U.S. in 2002
Founder Dr. Tu Tran, Dr. Thien Pham
Headquarters Marietta, GA, U.S.
Number of locations
100+
Area served
United States
Services Dentistry
Owner Dr. Tu Tran
Website Kool Smiles

Kool Smiles is a dental services provider, based in the United States. Its headquarters are in the Kool Smiles Patient Support Center in Marietta, Georgia, U.S., in Greater Atlanta and has over 100 offices located across 16 different states.

Kool Smiles operates dental clinics located in low-income communities. Kool Smiles positions itself as a general dentistry that treats both children and adults. The company recruits for general dentists, pediatric dentists, endodontists and oral surgeons.

Kool Smiles provides preventative care, diagnostic imaging and restorative care supported by electronic health records, as well as the free curriculum on oral health and dental care.

In August 2002, the first Kool Smiles location opened in East Lake, Atlanta, in DeKalb County, near the city of Decatur. The clinic only accepted patients on Medicaid and PeachCare, Georgia's state insurance program. Brown said "The demand for service was unbelievable. These kids had nowhere to go for years and years." Brown said that originally they planned to open ten to fifteen clinics.

By 2005, Kool Smiles had opened six clinics in Georgia and two in Indianapolis, Indiana, and it had plans to open new clinics in Massachusetts and Virginia. It accepted patients on Medicaid and state insurance plans and patients who did "self-pay". They did not accept private insurance. In 2007, it had 10 clinics in Georgia. Around that year, it served 71,000 children annually at its Georgia clinics. In 2008, the chain had about 40 clinics in seven U.S. states. In 2009 it operated 84 clinics in the entire United States.

After the WellCare and Peach State Medicaid networks followed through with plans to terminate Kool Smiles from their contracts, patients of Kool Smiles and another company filed a lawsuit asking for an injunction that would prevent the terminations until WellCare and the Peach State organizations would show that the ending of the contracts would not contradict Medicaid dental program requirements. Kool Smiles' Chief Dental Officer, Dr. David Strange, argued that if it lost the contract, some families in Columbus, Georgia, would be unable to receive dental care. Kool Smiles remained part of the Amerigroup Medicaid network and is currently part of the Amerigroup, WellCare, and Peach State networks in Dalton and Columbus.


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