What happens if your dental clinic chain closes

Key rules

• Records: The clinic must answer a written request for your records within one month, and the first copy is free.
• Linked loan: If the clinic arranged your loan, you may be able to cancel it or stop repayments in proportion to the unfinished treatment.
• Insolvency claim: Register as a creditor before the deadline in the court notice, or you risk losing your claim.
• Prepaid money: Prepaid sums are usually recovered only in part and slowly through insolvency.

What happened with iDental

iDental, a low-cost dental chain with clinics in several regions, stopped operating in 2025 after financial trouble. Clinics closed abruptly. Thousands of patients were left with unfinished treatment, and many had prepaid it or financed it with a consumer loan.

A court insolvency process (concurso de acreedores) followed. Patients were told to file claims with the insolvency administrator and to contact their lenders if the treatment was financed. Money paid in advance is usually recovered only in part, and slowly. For the current state of the proceedings, ask the insolvency administrator.

Your rights if the treatment was financed

The key question is whether your loan is a linked credit (contrato de crédito vinculado). It usually is when the clinic arranged the loan with a lender it works with, and the loan paid for that specific treatment.

If it is linked, you can use against the lender the same rights you have against the clinic. You must first have made a claim against the clinic without success. The lender is then jointly responsible for the work not done. The loan may be cancelled, or your repayments stopped, in proportion to the unfinished treatment.

A personal loan you took out independently of the clinic generally still has to be repaid. A lender may dispute that your loan is linked, so check your loan contract and get advice from a consumer association or your regional consumer office.

Steps to protect your treatment and money

Do these in order. The checklist, documents list and timeline below carry the detail.

1. Gather your papers. Collect everything you have on the treatment, the payments and any loan.
2. Ask for your clinical history and X-rays. You have a legal right to them, including dental records. Ask the clinic or its successor in writing, with a signed request and a copy of your ID. The clinic must answer within one month, and the first copy is free. X-rays usually come digitally or on a disc. Clinics must keep records for at least five years after your care ends, and longer in many regions.
3. Get a dentist's report. It should say what work was done and what remains. You will need it for any claim and for a new dentist.
4. Send a written claim by burofax. Send it to the clinic and, if the treatment was financed, to the lender. Ask the lender to end the loan and stop payments if it is a linked credit.
5. Complain to your consumer office. Use your town hall's consumer office or your regional consumer agency. Consumer arbitration may also be available.
6. Register as a creditor. If the clinic is in insolvency, register your claim with the insolvency administrator. The court notice sets the deadline for each case, so do not miss it.
7. Look at other routes. Ask your bank about a chargeback if you paid by card. Ask a consumer association about a collective claim.

While the dispute is open

Do not simply stop paying a loan on your own. Missed payments can put you on a default record. Keep paying, or get advice first, until the lender agrees in writing to stop or the position is clear.

If the clinic will not hand over your records

If the clinic or its successor refuses or ignores you, complain to the Spanish Data Protection Agency or your regional health authority.

Timeline and deadlines

• Gather your contract, payments and loan papers: as soon as the clinic closes

• Send a written request for your clinical history and X-rays: right after gathering papers

• Receive the clinic's reply to your records request: within one month of your written request

• Register your claim with the insolvency administrator: by the deadline in the court notice

Documents you need

• Treatment plan and budget from the clinic.

• Your treatment contract with the clinic.

• Invoices, receipts and proof of every payment you made.

• Your loan contract, if the treatment was financed.

• Your clinical history and X-rays, which you can request in writing from the clinic or its successor with a signed request and your ID.

• A dentist's report on the work done and what remains.

Checklist

• Gather your treatment plan, budget, contract, invoices, receipts and payment proof.

• Request your clinical history and X-rays in writing.

• Get a dentist's report on the work done and what remains.

• Send a written claim by burofax (a certified postal message) to the clinic and, if financed, to the lender.

• File a complaint with your regional consumer office.

• Register your claim as a creditor with the insolvency administrator if the clinic is in insolvency, as iDental's patients were told to do.

What to watch out for

• Missing the creditor deadline: If you miss the deadline to register your claim in the insolvency, you may lose your chance to recover anything. Read the court notice as soon as you get it and register with the insolvency administrator before the deadline.

• Stopping loan payments too early: If you stop paying a loan before the lender agrees, you can end up on a default record. Keep paying, or get advice from a consumer office, while you ask the lender to cancel a linked credit.

• Clinic does not hand over your records: A clinic or its successor may ignore your request for your clinical history and X-rays. Make the request in writing and keep proof.

Frequently asked questions

Can I stop paying my loan if the clinic closed before finishing my treatment?

Possibly, if the loan is a linked credit (a loan arranged through the clinic with a lender that works with it), you can ask the lender to cancel it or stop repayments in proportion to the unfinished treatment.

Will I get my prepaid money back if the clinic is in insolvency?

Recovery of prepaid money through an insolvency process is usually only partial and slow.

Should I keep paying my loan while the dispute is open?

Yes, keep paying the loan or get advice first, because missed payments can put you on a default record. Ask your consumer office or a consumer association before you stop.