Dental hygienists accused of misleading patients as to their need for dental work

The Iowa Dental Board has charged two dental hygienists with misleading patients as to their purported need for extensive dental work.

In March 2026, the board charged dental hygienist Angela Renee Page of Ames with knowingly making misleading, deceptive, untrue, or fraudulent representations in the practice of the profession; taking actions that were abusive, coercive, intimidating, harassing, untruthful, or threatening, all in the practice of dentistry; and with obtaining a fee by fraud or misrepresentation.

The board alleged the conduct occurred sometime in 2023 while Page was working in Ames.

According to the board, it received a complaint that during a dental cleaning appointment, Page had informed a patient he needed a “deep cleaning.” The patient scheduled an appointment for the work to be performed but then was told by another dental provider he did not need the procedure. The patient opted to have the work performed based on Page’s recommendation.

The board alleges that a second complaint stated Page had, over the course of two years, treated a male patient for gum disease. At some point, the board alleges, the patient visited a different dentist to get a second opinion as to the treatments he had been receiving from Page. The new dentist allegedly informed the patient he had no form of gum disease and that the two years of treatments he had been receiving were unnecessary.

The board recently resolved the disciplinary case with a settlement that calls for Page to accept a warning. She will also be required to complete educational training of an unspecified duration, focusing on ethics and periodontics.

The board has opted to refrain from publicly disclosing the name of the dental practice where Page worked.

In a similar but unrelated case, the Iowa Dental Board recently charged dental hygienist Abby Young of Cedar Rapids with knowingly making misleading representations by overstating the consequences of failing to maintain routine dental hygiene and not accepting her recommended treatment plan.

The board alleges that sometime in 2023, while working in Cedar Rapids, Young informed a patient that he had periodontal disease and that his teeth would fall out if he did not get root scaling and planing on teeth within all four quadrants of his mouth.

Young, the board says, “disputes the nature of the conversation” with the patient, and says she described the risk of forgoing treatment in a manner that’s consistent with descriptions by the American Academy of Periodontology.

According to the board, the patient was asked to prepay for the procedure and return on another day for the work to be performed. The board says the day before the procedure was scheduled, the patient asked about getting a second opinion “and was told again by the dental office that all of his teeth would fall out if he did not get the procedure done as soon as possible.”

After the procedure was completed, the board alleges, the patient’s insurer concluded the work was not medically necessary and denied the claim. The dental office — which the board has opted not to publicly identify — then “billed the patient directly and stated they would send it to collections if the patient did not pay,” the board alleges.

The patient has since been reimbursed for the care and treatment he received, according to the board.

The board recently resolved the disciplinary case with a settlement that calls for Young to accept a warning. She will also be required to complete educational training of an unspecified duration, focusing on ethics and periodontics.

The Iowa Capital Dispatch was not able to reach Page or Young for comment.