AUSTIN (KXAN) — A lawsuit filed within Travis County details allegations against Dr. Clinton Herzog from FLOSS Dental, including that he is not a licensed dentist.

Plaintiffs claim Herzog collected hundreds of thousands of dollars from investors to open multiple locations for his dentistry in Austin, then never bought them and left the city. They also say the State Board of Dental Examiners suspended his license in 2015, but allowed him to practice under certain conditions.

In 2016, Herzog voluntarily surrendered his license to practice, which the plaintiffs said they were not aware of. According to Texas State Board of Dental Examiners records, Herzog was accused of advertising that his offices had multiple “elite” providers for Invisalign services, but he was the only “elite” provider. Herzog is also accused of advertising dental services that “were free or discounted without disclosing the prices of associated services,” according to his non-disciplinary remedial plan.

FLOSS Dental workers on Fifth Street in Austin told KXAN Herzog “left town” and they could not get a hold of him.

Herzog founded FLOSS Dental in Dallas in 2007. In 2015, he raised money to open five locations in Austin, forming separate companies for each location.

The plaintiffs write that the “Floss Brodie location was a complete sham. Herzog took over $500,000 from several investors to open the Floss Brodie locations. But Herzog never consummated the purchase of the existing dentist’s practice to open the location.” The lawsuit goes on to say Herzog tried to run the dentistry without owning it by going through the landlord. 

According to the lawsuit, no investors in the South Lamar location have received “a penny” from their investments, and that location opened in December 2017 but closed a few months later. Herzog allegedly attempted to sell it for $20,000 on Aug. 8, and the people who would have bought it are also being sued.

Herzog was also involved in several lawsuits in Dallas County, according to the Travis County lawsuit, which alleges he withdrew large sums of money from Floss to “support his recklessly expensive lifestyle.”

The lawsuit alleges breach of contract, multiple types of fraud, negligent misrepresentation, theft, breach of fiduciary duty and conversion. Plaintiffs are asking that Herzog pay attorneys’ fees and be held personally liable for debts. They also want to shut down any practice at the South Lamar location.

KXAN attempted multiple times to interview Herzog. He responded via text that he could talk next week. 

The plaintiffs’ attorney, Brian Smith from the Dunn Smith law firm, tells KXAN a judge has granted a temporary restraining, therefore, Herzog cannot legally sell the South Lamar office location for the time being.