ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. — A Florida children’s dentist accused of running a “house of horrors” agreed late Friday to stop practicing dentistry.
Dr. Howard Schneider of Jacksonville faces multiple lawsuits and his office has been picketed in recent weeks by parents carrying signs as a growing number of ex-patients complain about his practices.
In addition, Florida officials launched an investigation and attorneys said the state was working on an emergency order to shut him down.
The Florida Department of Health said Schneider voluntarily relinquished his license to practice in the state.
Schneider did not return a call seeking comment Friday.
Last November, Sarah Phillips of St. Augustine took her 2-year-old son Mason to Schneider after the boy cracked his front two teeth. When Mason came out of Schneider’s office he was missing four teeth — but there had been no consultation, Phillips said.
On a follow-up appointment Mason came out of the office with bruises around his neck and gauze around his lower teeth, even though he’d come in for work on his uppers. Phillips took Mason to his pediatrician.
“The pediatrician the following day discovered a scalpel slice from ear to ear on Mason’s gum,” Phillips said. She is among dozens of people suing Schneider in a complaint filed by attorney Gust Sarris. Another woman in the suit says her daughter was to have one tooth removed and ended up with seven extractions.