Pittsburgh patients out thousands after their dentist died before completing prepaid treatment. Will they get their money back?

When Dr. Medgaus suddenly passed away in April 2025, many of his patients had paid for treatments that weren’t finished before his death. In some cases, patients are down thousands of dollars and still don’t have their teeth in order (1).

But instead of dealing directly with the dental office, patients have to navigate the complexities of estate law to recover some of their money. Over 150 former patients already filed creditor claims against Medgaus’ estate in Westmoreland County.

One former patient, Mark Dzura, told CBS Pittsburgh that he paid Dr. Medgaus $21K for a full-mouth dental implant that was only half done before Medgaus died. Eventually, Dzura paid another dentist $7,500 to get the job done. Although Dzura filed his claims to Medgaus’ estate in May of 2025, he still hasn’t heard much on whether he’ll get reimbursed.

Dr. Medgaus' estate attorney told CBS Pittsburgh that they’re still going through documentation and prioritizing claims in accordance with Pennsylvania law to be sure everything is processed properly. Situations like this raise an uncomfortable question for patients who prepay for expensive procedures: What happens to that money if the dentist suddenly dies or closes their practice? Here’s how cases like this are typically handled — and how you can reduce your risk.

Legal gaps when prepaying for caps

​Prepaid dental treatment plans are common for certain procedures, but they don’t usually come with a ton of protections. As the above case illustrates, patients are usually left as “unsecured creditors” when a practice shuts down and money has already been spent. In plain English, that means patients have to file a claim and wait for the estate to get sorted out.

In an article published in the Journal of the American Dental Association (JADA) detailing a similar case, Dr. Jill M. Burns admitted there isn’t a “legal obligation” for the local dental community to step in and assist patients in this case if the former practice doesn’t get bought out (2).

However, Dr. Burns argues there's an “ethical obligation” under the ADA Code for other dentists to provide service since patients are “left stranded with little to no treatment and…already paid to have the work done.” Whether other dentists actually step in to cover, however, is up to their discretion.

In terms of insurance protections, medical malpractice won’t apply because it only covers clinical negligence that results in injury or death, not refunds for unfinished work (3).

Standard business liability policies also typically don’t cover prepaid services as a reimbursement option.

So, unless the dental practice had a specific policy like a succession plan, or they held patient funds in escrow, there’s no easy way to get payments back. That’s why people in these kinds of situations end up where these Pittsburgh patients are: Filing creditor claims against the dentist’s estate in probate court.

But even then, there’s no guarantee patients will get their money back at the end of this long process.

While every state has different policies, Pennsylvania probate law (20 Pa.C.S. § 3392) has a clear list of obligations from highest to lowest priority for estate payments (4). If there aren’t enough assets in an estate, then these patients probably won’t get anything.

​While that’s a pretty bleak financial situation, there are a few ways to ensure you don’t wind up there.

Think twice when prepaying for dental implants

In a perfect world, every dentist's office would have a clear succession or disability plan to cover your prepayments. The reality is that this isn’t common practice in dentistry, so you can’t assume you’ll have an easy time getting your funds in a tragic situation.