In Mississippi and Arkansas, Kool Smiles Dental has changed its brand name to Sunnybrook Dentistry. The report by the Daily Journal of Tupelo, Mississippi, implied that the rebranding may have been a consequence of the death of a child at a Kool Smiles clinic in Arizona and of a $23.9 million settlement with the United States Department of Justice for alleged fraud.
The Daily Journal further noted that Dr. Dale Mayfield, the chief executive officer for Kool Smiles Dental, was listed as the incorporator, president, and director of Sunnybrook Dental and Hattiesburg Road Dental, which also does business as Sunnybrook Dental. Mayfield, an appointee to the Georgia Board of Dentistry in 2016, resigned his position in January 2018 under the pressure of Georgia Governor Nathan Deal.
In her report, Daily Journal reporter Michaela Gibson Morris referenced a press release sent to the newspaper from a public relations firm. The Sunnybrook Dental company statement apparently did not mention its connection to Kool Smiles Dental and allegedly misrepresented one of the clinic’s principal dentists, Dr. Victoria Graham, as a pediatric dentistry specialist. The Mississippi Board of Dental Examiners lists Graham as a general dentist.
Source: Kool Smiles Dental Quietly Changes the Names of Its Clinics / Dentistry Today