Kids Left Mid-Braces as Spanish Dental Chain Collapse Strands 30,000 Treatments

Edited by Orthotown staff

Parents in Elche, Spain, paid thousands of euros up front for their children’s braces. Then the clinic locked its doors, and it wasn’t the only one.

On Monday, Oct. 26, the Vivanta dental chain closed its entire network of roughly 130 clinics across Spain, according to Merca2. Clinics in the sister Oralis chain began closing the same day, with the court-appointed insolvency administrator telling staff they were temporarily shut, Noticias de Navarra reported. Both brands belong to Madrid-based Aestes Dental, which a Madrid commercial court declared insolvent Sept. 3, according to COPE.

In Elche, more than 660 people have joined a WhatsApp group for affected patients, Elche 7TV reported. One mother said she paid €3,080 (about $3,400) in early September to start her son’s new braces after the clinic urged her to pay right away. Another said she paid €1,500 (about $1,700) for the first phase of her 9-year-old daughter’s orthodontic treatment, can’t get the child’s clinical records, and has been warned by other practices that picking up a case started with another clinic’s materials could be difficult.

The administrator’s figures put about 30,000 treatments in progress or pending across the network, valued at roughly €36.9 million (about $41 million), Merca2 reported. Spain’s consumer organization, OCU, confirmed that Oralis clinics in Elche, Getxo, Palencia, Pamplona, and Torrejón de Ardoz closed overnight without warning, leaving treatments half-finished and, in some cases, already paid for.

Staff are stuck too. At the Abra4 clinic in Getxo, medical director Elena Rodríguez told Deia the company couldn’t pay suppliers, so the team couldn’t order implants or orthodontic elastics or pay prosthetic labs. She said staff offered to buy their own clinic, but the administrator turned them down because of the group’s debt.

In Pamplona, the team at Los Arcos Deprit offered to provide basic care to patients for free. The administrator answered with an email warning that any unauthorized access to the clinics, which it said were closed for security reasons, would be treated as a very serious offense and grounds for disciplinary dismissal, according to Noticias de Navarra.

The shutdown followed a rescue deal that fell apart. Donte Group, owner of the Vitaldent chain and controlled by the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan Board, had offered to take over 61 clinics, keep 656 of 1,335 employees, and honor all 30,000 pending treatments, Merca2 reported. The sticking point was a €40 million (about $45 million) pandemic-era rescue the group received in 2022 from SEPI, Spain’s state industrial holding company. SEPI argued a new owner wouldn’t erase the repayment obligation and urged the judge to consult the European Commission. The offer expired Oct. 21.

By then, the cash was nearly gone. In an Oct. 5 court filing, the administrator projected that Vivanta could operate through the week of Oct. 16–22, after which it would have €26,125 (about $29,000) on hand, with €2.3 million (about $2.6 million) in payroll due the following week, according to Merca2.

In September, the message to patients was very different. After closing some Vivanta clinics that month, Aestes told Europa Press it would guarantee completion of 100% of treatments in progress and that no patient mid-treatment would be left without a solution.

Spain’s General Council of Dentists called the Vivanta closures a new and serious episode of patients being left unprotected. Council President Dr. Óscar Castro Reino said the issue goes beyond the sale of a company to the health of thousands of people who trusted these clinics.

The insolvency case remains open. The administrator has described the closures as temporary, though Merca2 reported it has begun an orderly liquidation to preserve cash, and the dental council called Vivanta’s closure permanent. If the European Commission approves a sale, new bids could follow, including a renewed one from Donte, Merca2 reported. OCU is urging patients to file written claims, request their records, and ask lenders to cancel financing tied to unfinished treatment, but warned that consumers rank last among creditors in insolvency cases.

Beyond the financial collapse, this situation raises important questions about patient protection and continuity of care when a large dental organization shuts down. With thousands of patients left mid-treatment, including children undergoing orthodontic care, who is ultimately responsible for ensuring those patients aren’t left behind? And what safeguards should be in place to prevent something like this from happening again?

Sources:
OCU (Organización de Consumidores y Usuarios), “Cierre de clínicas del Grupo Oralis: OCU insta a los afectados a reclamar cuanto antes,” Oct. 28, 2026: ocu.org/notas-de-prensa/cierreclinicasoralis281026
Consejo General de Dentistas de España, “Vivanta cierra definitivamente sus puertas y deja a miles de pacientes damnificados,” Oct. 27, 2026: consejodentistas.es/vivanta-cierra-definitivamente
Merca2, “Vivanta cierra toda su red de clínicas dentales hasta que Bruselas se pronuncie sobre su operación,” Oct. 27, 2026: merca2.es/vivanta-cierre-clinicas-dentales
Elche 7TV, “«Nuestros hijos se han quedado con los tratamientos a medias»: la angustia tras el cierre de la clínica del doctor Follana en Elche,” Oct. 28, 2026: elche7tv.es/nuestros-hijos-tratamientos-a-medias
Noticias de Navarra, “Clínica Oralis en Pamplona: el administrador amenaza con despedir a la plantilla,” Oct. 29, 2026: noticiasdenavarra.com/clinica-oralis-pamplona-administrador
Deia, “‘Es una situación horrorosa’, lamenta el equipo de la clínica dental cerrada en Getxo,” Oct. 28, 2026: deia.eus/situacion-horrorosa-clinica-getxo
COPE, “La Clínica Oralis de Palencia cierra y deja a decenas de pacientes con los tratamientos a medias,” Oct. 28, 2026: cope.es/clinica-oralis-palencia-cierra
Europa Press via Infosalus, “Aestes Dental garantiza la continuidad del 100% de los tratamientos de Vivantadental tras el cierre de algunas clínicas,” Sept. 10, 2026: infosalus.com/aestes-dental-garantiza-continuidad