JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A pediatric dentist tells Action News that she saw signs of inadequate care by a dentist now under investigation by the state for allegations that he mistreated patients.
Dr. Jodi Mason now has her own private practice, Bean Tree Pediatric Dentistry in Riverside. But from 2007-2008 and again from 2009-2011, she told Action News, she worked for the Duval County Health Department.
Mason said she saw many of Dr. Howard Schneider's former patients there.
"A lot of the things that I saw were not up to the standard of the care set by the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry," Mason said. "It was a very common scenario of treating and retreating patients that had been seen in those private Medicaid offices."
Mason said some of Schneider's patients had problem teeth that should have been removed, but instead, Schneider attempted to treat them.
Latest News Headlines from Action News
"Many of those cases that had extensive dental work done would end up having infections on those teeth that had been restored with baby teeth root canals and crowns," Mason said.
Mason said she does not know exactly what happened in Schneider's office and can't speak about why he chose to make certain decisions when dealing with his patients, but she said some parents may push for treatment over extraction.
Mason said she observed anxious behavior from many of the young patients whom she took in who formerly sat in Schneider's chair.
"They were truly just afraid of the dentist most all the time after having been seen there," Mason said. "They would start crying before we saw them, and it just became a significant part of the appointment, getting them to trust us, getting them to know we weren't going to do anything to hurt them."
Mason said she never observed any signs of abuse on Schneider's patients, but she said she expressed her concerns about the quality of care to the Duval County Health Department.