The Corner Penthouse

This is the latest in a series of articles about the dental hassles that I have had to go through due to being poor, and thus not being able to afford proper dental insurance. It was never meant to be a series of articles, but I have had to endure so much bullshit, which I felt needed to be documented, that it's now become an ongoing series. As of this writing, I have re-titled the previous four articles as "Paul's Dental Woes" Parts 1 through 4 since it's now an ongoing chronicle that I wish wasn't an ongoing chronicle. Read on to find out more...

Today's article, which I should have written a month ago, details everything I went through from mid-July to late-August 2026. While I will go through this, for the most part, in chronological order, I may jump around a bit in order to keep all of the issues separate. Yeah, I went through a lot of shit that I don't wish on anyone.


It all started in the evening of July 18, 2026 when I got a severe toothache in the top left second molar in the back of my mouth. I made an emergency appointment for The Smilist (17 W. Merrick Rd., Valley Stream, NY) intending to see dentist Anam Khalid, who filled cavities and put in new crowns in late 2025/early 2026. I went to The Smilist's office on July 20th & 22nd for two emergency appointments. I learned that Dr. Khalid is no longer in that office, so I saw Dr. Nadir Mahmood, whom I never saw before in my life. Nearly every year since 2023, this office has given me a new dentist, which prevents me from building a long-term relationship with one. The rotating door of dentists includes Jiffry Kolonda in 2023, Paul Natter in 2024 (just for two post cleaning quickie examinations), Anam Khalid in late 2025/early 2026, and now Nadir Mahmood in July 2026. Aside from Natter, all of the previous dentists have left the office, which may be a bad omen. Why don't dentists want to stay with that office?

Anyway, Mahmood didn't leave a good first, or even second, impression on me. After first greeting me, Mahmood asked if I saw an endodontist or was taking antibotics. I said "no", yet he didn't do anything. He did x-rays of all of my teeth, and examined the painful tooth, but did NOTHING for it! He was more concerned with doing a cleaning of all of my teeth (even though I was already scheduled for one in September), than in taking care of the infected tooth. While a cleaning isn't necessarily a bad thing, it surely didn't help with the inflammation around the infected tooth. I left the first visit with NOTHING for the toothache. It was only after the second visit on the 22nd that I got a referral for an endodontist (for a root canal) and a prescription for a pain reliever. Yet, despite me asking him for one, and him asking me two days earlier if I was already taking one, HE NEVER GAVE ME A PRESCRIPTION FOR AN ANTI-BIOTIC! When I asked him if I needed one, he said, "No".

After THREE WEEKS OF PAIN, I called The Smilist on Wednesday August 12th, to see if there was anything more Mahmood could do. I spoke to Satima who told me that there really wasn't anything more a general dentist could do for a toothache. Honestly, that makes Mahmood kinda useless. Satima said that Mahmood would send over a prescription for an anti-biotic sometime that day. Many, MANY hours later, he finally did.

While Nadir Mahmood isn't the worst dentist I have ever seen in the past 30 years, he's definitely really low on the list.



While I was speaking to Satima, a front desk receptionist at The Smilist's Valley Stream, NY office, on August 12th, she was looking over my file and she said something to me that was rather random and alarming: "We're not in-network with your insurance." Let me re-state that with emphasis: SATIMA AT THE SMILIST SAID THAT THEY WERE NOT IN-NETWORK WITH LIBERTY, EVEN THOUGH TWO AETNA REPS CONFIRMED THAT THEY WERE BACK IN LATE 2025 AND EARLY 2026!!!

To see if Satima was correct, or if yet again I was being given incorrect information by the front desk receptionists at The Smilist, I decided to check out what claims were paid for in my account on the Liberty Dental Plan website.


As seen in the above screenshot, ALL WORK DONE AT THE SMILIST WAS DENIED BY LIBERTY!!! This includes the work done in late 2025 and March 2026 by Dr. Anam Khalid, and the cleaning & exam done on July 20th & 22nd 2026 by Dr. Nadir Mahmood. When I clicked on "View" for each item on the site, a blank PDF was downloaded to my computer. So, that told me nothing as to why these claims were denied. I don't want The Smilist to send me a $8,415 bill for all of the work/claims listed above. They already sent me a bill earlier in the year for nearly $2,000 under the dumb mistaken belief that I had the money to pay even a fraction of that!

I contacted Veronica P., an executive resolution analyst at Aetna, who was one of the two reps who confirmed that The Smilist was in-network with Liberty. (The other was Cindi Dorfzaun.) On August 27th, she sent me a reply in which she stated...

After further review, payment for dental services is based on the network status of the treating provider who performed the service, not solely the dental office location. While previous communications indicated that The Smilist facility was participating with Liberty Dental, our investigation determined that none of the providers who rendered services were participating providers with Liberty Dental at the time the services were provided. As a result, the claims were processed as out-of-network (OON) and were denied in accordance with plan guidelines.

Am I surprised that Aetna is backpedalling on what two reps previously told me? They're an American insurance company, so of course I'm not surprised. However, I call "bullshit" on this statement. The Sept. 10, 2026 EOB (Explanation of Benefits) document from Aetna lists Mahmood as an "in-network provider".


However, it's a non-issue as Veronica also stated in her August 27th e-mail... "We have also confirmed that The Smilist waived all associated fees, and you are not responsible for payment for the denied claims. If you have any questions request to speak with the office manager Valerie."

I'm relieved to know that I shouldn't expect for The Smilist to send me a $8,415 bill, though given how everyone at Aetna and The Smilist has lied to me numerous times, I wouldn't be surprised if they send me a bill. At this point, I am done with The Smilist. In addition to The Smilist not accepting Liberty or Medicaid, I don't like the rotating door of dentists, how bad the latest foreign-import just-out-of-dental-school dentist is, and how the idiots at the front desk almost always never know what they're talking about. That last sticking point has been going on since 2023, when even after being paid by Aetna for work done earlier in the year, they were saying that they didn't accept my then-Aetna dental insurance!  DO NOT GO TO THE SMILIST IN VALLEY STREAM, NEW YORK.



As previously noted, Mahmood gave me a referral to see an endodontist to get a root canal for the infected tooth (but not also an anti-biotic to treat the infection). A referral was given because there was no endodontist in The Smilist's Valley Stream office, despite one (Dr. Yigit Gol) still being listed on their website as of this writing. (Front desk receptionist Marjorie told me back in August that Gol is no longer there and that they know he's still listed on their website, yet two months later, the website still hasn't been updated.)


This meant that I had to check Liberty's website for an in-network endodontist. I checked both of Liberty's search pages - here and here - and entered in "Aetna Medicare D-SNP", a zip code of 11580, and a search radius of 25 miles. Only four results came up, and they were in Queens, Brooklyn, the Bronx, and Manhattan. THERE WAS NOT ONE SINGLE ENDODONTIST IN THE LONG ISLAND COUNTIES OF NASSAU AND SUFFOLK LISTED IN LIBERTY'S PROVIDER SEARCH! Have I ever mentioned how greedy dentists don't want to accept poor-people insurance?

I live in Nassau County, do not own a car, and for my own safety, I do not travel into New York City unless I can get to the destination using one single Long Island Rail Road train. Furthermore, medical transportation does not go outside of Nassau County, except for just across the border into Queens and no further. So, needless to say, THERE WERE NO ENDODONTISTS THAT I COULD GET TO THAT ACCEPTED MY LIBERTY INSURANCE.

Since Aetna forced this shitty Liberty insurance upon me, I wanted them to help solve the problem they put onto my lap. I contacted executive rep Veronica P. and asked her to find me an endodontist in Nassau County, preferably in the vicinity of where I live. She couldn't find one, and of course, Aetna wouldn't actually go against their bullshit in order to help me. Veronica called me on August 17th and she told me that she checked Liberty's site and because there was an endodontist in a 25 mile radius (maybe it was 50 miles), Aetna would not make an "exception" for me. Even if they allowed me to see an out-of-network endodontist, Aetna would only pay the discounted amount they would pay to an in-network provider, and not whatever higher amount the endodontist would charge. I would be left having to pay the difference. Aetna knows I'm poor, since only poor people would have Medicaid, yet they expect for me to have the money to pay any portion of a medical bill? Make that make sense.

While I was dealing with things on my own end, I had a case worker trying to help me arrange transportation to any of the New York City endodontists, as a last resort. He called all of the endodontists listed on Liberty's site and the only one that had an appointment soon, rather than in November(!), wanted The Smilist (my then-current dentist and the ones who gave me the physical referral slip) to send them a digital referral (or get pre-approval from Liberty). The case worker called The Smilist in Valley Stream and they REFUSED TO SEND A DIGITAL REFERRAL! WHAT THE FUCK!!! At the time, I was a patient of The Smilist, and doctors are supposed to help their patients. It is inexcusable that they would refuse to do something, that likely wouldn't take very long to do, in order to get me the treatment I need. Treatment that THEY wanted me to get, I remind you.

At this point, I decided that it would be in my best interest to not bother seeing an endodontist for a root canal and, instead, look for an oral surgeon to have the tooth extracted. It's the last tooth in the back, so pulling it out wouldn't leave a gap. Given that I gag easily, it's for the best, anyway, if the tooth goes away. Liberty's site, of course, did not list any oral surgeons in Nassau County. Seeing one in New York City was out of the question, so I had to resort to finding one locally that, if he didn't accept my Liberty insurance, I could borrow money to pay for. I searched Google for a list of oral surgeons in my area, and started cold-calling them. Thankfully, I had good luck with the second one I called. Not only was he just a few blocks away from my house, but he accepted Liberty! I have no idea why he's not listed on Liberty's site.



On Thursday August 13, 2026 I called up South Central Dental Implants (99 Rockaway Ave, Valley Stream, NY, 516-561-7788) and after getting past the AI chatbot (by telling it that "I'd like to speak to a real person"), I spoke to someone in the office. That person being the oral surgeon himself, Dr. Michael Ivry. After I explained that I needed to have a tooth removed, he told me that he had an opening that afternoon at 3:00pm, and one the next morning at 9:00am. Since I had the toothache and infected tooth for almost FOUR WEEKS at that point - and only started treating it with an anti-biotic the day before - I chose the same-day appointment.

Later that day, I went to Ivry's office for the appointment. Despite me telling them that I was there for a tooth extraction, and specifying exactly which tooth it was (though they could see the infection themselves), they did a whole mouth full of x-rays, as well as a panorama x-ray. I have no idea why they did any of this since, at the time, this could have been my sole visit to the office (because The Smilist was still my "regular dentist"). I surmise that all of this extra work was just to add things onto the bill. Well, as long as Liberty would pay for it, and not me, I had no problem with extra charges.

As I was sitting in the exam chair for nearly an hour waiting for Ivry to pull the tooth, office manager Toni DiCamillo came in and told me that there would be a $280 "co-pay" for the visit. This confused me since I knew that Liberty/Medicaid had no co-pays. I never once paid for dental work in the 30 years (or so) that I had NY Medicaid; and Liberty is just Medicaid with a coat of paint on it. Also, Aetna exec rep Veronica P. had told me earlier in the year, when The Smilist sent me the large bill and the receptionists were claiming that Liberty had 50/50 co-pays, that Liberty, in fact, had NO CO-PAYS.

I wasn't in any position to argue the fact with Toni, and I had assurance from a relative that he would give me money to pay for the tooth extraction, since I couldn't go to any providers in New York City, so I told her that I would have to give them a check from my relative later. Despite having a 3:00pm appointment, Ivry didn't pull the tooth until almost 4:00pm. I expected for it to be a long and laborious procedure, but after giving me an adequate amount of pain blockers, he jiggled the tooth out in less than a minute or two.

As I was leaving, Toni gave me the bill...


...which she HAND-ALTERTED! If you look at the bill (above), all of the charges don't add up. This is because Toni covered up, with white-out, portions of the bill that shows that the extraction was originally $208, not $280; and that the "patient portion" was supposed to be $143.28, not $280. It says they're going to submit a claim of $550 to Liberty, with the assumption that Liberty would pay $406.72 and that my portion would be $143.28. This was originally the amount listed on the side as "balance", but they whited that out and wrote in $280, which is almost double of the $143.28. Below are some photos of the bill taken in front of a light bulb, which shows the original prices underneath.



Given that this was my first visit to this office, this hand-altered bill and "co-pay" when I shouldn't have been charged one, all made them seem really sketchy. I asked Toni about it when I went back, with the check, on August 26th. She told me that they charged me the $280 because it was an "emergency same-day appointment". When I spoke to Ivry himself over the phone the morning of August 13th, he offered me the 3:00pm appointment that afternoon or a 9:00am appointment the next day. He NEVER stated that if I chose the same-day appointment he would charge me a $280 "co-pay". Had I known, I would have went for the next-day appointment. I went nearly four weeks with the toothache/infection, so I could have waited one more day just to avoid that payment.

Also, this is NOT a "co-pay". That is incorrect terminology. What this really is is a "fee". Specifically, an "emergency same-day appointment fee". Had this been how they described it to me, and written it down on the bill, it wouldn't have seemed so sketchy. Of course, since I was never informed of this fee when I made the appointment, it still isn't right for me to be charged it. Thankfully, my relative paid it, so it wasn't an issue for me. That said, since South Central is now my "regular dentist", I can't have them pull anymore of this "co-pay" bullshit. I won't always have my relative to help me out in situations like this.



In the time between my first visit to South Central on August 13th and the follow-up appointment on August 26th, I received a "Notice of Denial of Medical Coverage" document (dated 08/21/2026) in the mail from Aetna and Liberty. It stated that Ivry submitted pre-authorizations for the following procedures, and that they were all denied.

# 1, 2, 3, 4 - Cleaning of tooth roots 4 or more teeth (deep cleaning) - Tooth/Area: UR, UL, LL, LR
# 5, 6, 7, 8 - Gum surgery to shape bone and clean teeth - Tooth/Area: UR, UL, LL, LR

This was all new to me, as no one at South Central told me on that first visit that they wanted to do a deep cleaning and gum surgery when I came back on the 26th. I has assumed that the follow-up visit would just be to see how well everything healed up in the area where the extraction took place. I didn't mind getting a deep cleaning, as long as there were no "co-pays" for it, though I had just gotten a cleaning at The Smilist on July 20th (a month earlier). I certainly did not want gum surgery.

None of that is the issue here. What I want to point out is that LIBERTY DENIED BOTH PROCEDURES FOR BULLSHIT REASONS! Back in February, I wrote that Liberty Dental has so many restrictions it barely counts as insurance, and this proves it even more.


The deep cleaning was denied because I don't have "[gum] pockets that are at least 4mm deep". It then further elaborates, "You must have 4 or more teeth in that area of your mouth with those pocket depths. Based on the records/x-rays/notes that your dentist sent in you do not have the needed 4mm pockets in four or more teeth in that area of your mouth." Like I said, Liberty will find any excuse NOT to pay.

That is all for this massive update. I really hope that, despite the sketchy billing issues at the start, I will be able to continue with South Central Dental Implants for the rest of my life. If they stop accepting Liberty/Medicaid, I will not have a dentist anymore. There are no others in Valley Stream that accept poor people insurance, and after 30 years, I'm tried of the continual search for new dentists. I have had enough of the bullshit.