Attorney General Ellison sends over $1 million in refunds to consumers harmed by defunct dental clinic 

Settlement enables consumers to obtain refunds of fees they paid for dental services that were not provided from newly created Consumer Protection Restitution Account

AGO has issued 76 refunds so far and created an online tracker to provide updates to the public

Claims Status

(As of April 27, 2026)

May 1, 2026 (SAINT PAUL) — Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison announced today that his office has sent the first round of refund checks to consumers who were harmed by Woodbury Dental Arts, a former Woodbury dental clinic owned and operated by Marko Kamel.  The refund checks follow a settlement with the Chapter 7 Trustee for the Bankruptcy Estate of Woodbury Dental Arts and a claims process where consumers verified they paid fees out of pocket for services that were not completed.  

So far, the Attorney General’s Office has received 341 claims and has issued 76 checks, totaling $1,047,209.82. Attorney General Ellison used funds from the newly created Consumer Protection Restitution Account (CPRA) to provide refund checks. The CPRA was created by the legislature to allow the Attorney General’s Office to restitute consumers harmed by companies that went bankrupt or were otherwise incapable of providing restitution themselves. The Attorney General’s Office continues to review claims and follow up with consumers to verify information.  An online refund tracker created by the Attorney General’s Office that lists the number of claims received, the number of refund checks sent, and the total amount refunded will be updated as additional refund checks are issued.

“When Marko Kamel lost his dental license and shut down Woodbury Dental Arts, he left a lot of Minnesotans in a terrible position,” said Attorney General Ellison. “People paid thousands of dollars upfront for procedures they never received. Some were even in the middle of multi-step dental procedures that simply had to be halted, leaving them worse off than when they began the procedure. The Minnesotans harmed here deserve restitution, and I’m pleased to have begun that process by sending out over $1 million in refund checks. My office will continue to do everything we can to protect consumers and secure justice for people across our state who have been cheated or defrauded.”

The Attorney General’s Office encourages former WDA patients to contact the Minnesota Attorney General’s Office by calling (612) 429-7130 or by emailing woodburydental@ag.state.mn.us.    

Background on Woodbury Dental Arts and the CPRA

In November 2023, the Minnesota Board of Dentistry temporarily suspended the dental license of Marko Kamel, who owned and operated Woodbury Dental Arts, based on a probable-cause determination his continued practice would present an imminent risk of serious harm to patients. Following the suspension of his license, Kamel concealed his ineligibility to practice and continued to collect tens of thousands of dollars in upfront fees from patients for services Kamel and the clinic failed to provide.

In March, 2024, days before the Board of Dentistry imposed final discipline against Kamel’s license, Woodbury Dental Arts closed without providing notice to patients, abandoning hundreds of patients and leaving many with unfinished treatment for dental implant services. Woodbury Dental Arts failed to refund patients, leaving many in debt and worse off than if they had they never sought treatment in the first place. Woodbury Dental Arts also filed for bankruptcy in March 2024, leaving patients without a path to recover the substantial fees they paid.

The CPRA was created by the Minnesota Legislature to be a fund that, among other things, is available to restitute consumers who were harmed by companies that have gone bankrupt or for some other reason are unable to make consumers whole. Prior to the CPRA, whenever a defendant or respondent was required to pay civil penalties to the state of Minnesota, or the Attorney General was unable to reasonably distribute paid restitution to impacted consumers, those funds typically went to the state’s general fund. Now, the Attorney General may deposit recovered funds into the CPRA and distribute them to scam or fraud victims who cannot receive restitution from the entity that cheated them.