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In fact, they're seething about a business that they and at the very least 46 various other dental practitioners all over the country case has illegitimately demolished as long as 50 percent of their revenues. Orthodontists strategy to fight tooth-and-nail in court to reveal that the firm has actually enjoyed millions of bucks in consulting charges, despite falling short to provide business-management services guaranteed under lasting deals. Dental experts Kirk Nielson and Kent Lauson of Aurora Orthodontics submitted suit Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Denver against OrthAlliance, now component of giant, publicly traded Orthodontic Centers of America (OCA). Nielson and Lauson allege that OrthAlliance agreed to provide business, marketing and consulting services in exchange for hefty consulting fees. But once those fees started rolling in, OrthAlliance did ``little or nothing' to fulfill its end of the bargain, the lawsuit contends. ``In reality, OrthAlliance is engaged in an effort to reap substantial profits through sham contracts designed to evade Colorado laws prohibiting the corporate practice of dentistry,' the lawsuit states. Cory Armand, OCA's vice president of investor relations, wouldn't comment on Aurora Orthodontics' lawsuit. But he pointed to documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission that note ``OrthAlliance is vigorously defending these lawsuits and believes the claims lack merit.' OrthAlliance claims the agreements with orthodontists are legal and provide consumers with efficient, accessible dental care without dictating how dentists should practice. For Metairie, La.-based OCA, the latest lawsuit is one of dozens it has inherited since acquiring OrthAlliance, the nation's No. 2 orthodontics practice-management company, last summer. Since OCA was founded in 1985, it has carved out a niche as the No. 1 player in the $3 billion orthodontics industry. It manages business operations for more than 550 orthodontic centers in Colorado and 43 other states, as well as Mexico. Last year, OCA posted a record $351 million in revenue and $61 million net income at its offices, which often are located in strip malls and shopping centers. Critics have dubbed the dental care centers ``McOrthodontics.' OrthAlliance, a Delaware corporation that has operated primarily out of California, paid $30 million in 1998 for a share of Nielson and Lauson's Aurora practice. In exchange, the two orthodontists agreed to pay a minimum of $500,914 in annual consulting fees, equal to about 40 to 50 percent of their profits. The dentists claim OrthAlliance agreed to pay all costs to operate the practice, but they allege it has breached that contract. Review this knockout article Orthodontist Manly to learn more. Other Colorado orthodontists have sued OCA. In 1999, Sam Callender of Colorado Orthodontics filed suit against OCA and its Colorado subsidiary, Orthodontics Centers of Colorado, for failing to provide contracted services. Callender reached a settlement last March. Nielson and Lauson have asked the court to allow them to modify agreements with OCA and order OrthAlliance to pay unspecified damages. The lawsuit also requests that the court declare OrthAlliance's agreements ``illegal' and place an injunction on the company that prohibits it from enforcing the arrangements.
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