> They told me I had 14 cavities, and 3 of my teeth needed crowns

A few years ago there was a story floating around about a young dentist who purchased a practice from a retiring dentist, and the practice wasn't making as much money as it should have.

He reviewed patient records and realized that the prior dentist was performing a lot of unnecessary procedures; and contacted the patients. Some patients had persistant pain from the unnecessary procedures, too.

There was at least one lawsuit, from what I remember. I think it had to do with the prior dentist misrepresenting the business's value.