Attorneys at Almeida Law Group are investigating whether a class action lawsuit can be filed on behalf of individuals affected by a possible First Dental Health data breach. According to dark web monitoring sources, a hacker group calling itself thegentlemen claimed responsibility for a cyberattack on First Dental Health in a post first observed in October 2026, alleging it had gained access to internal company systems. As of this writing, First Dental Health has not issued a public confirmation of the incident, and the exact scope of any exposed data remains unknown. If you believe you were affected, contact Almeida Law Group.
About First Dental Health
First Dental Health (firstdentalhealth.com) is a dental network management company founded in 1995 and headquartered in San Diego, California, with its corporate office at 9445 Farnham Street, Suite 100. It is one of California’s largest independent dental networks, offering PPO and EPO dental networks in Arizona, California, and Nevada. The company provides network leasing, claims review and repricing, claims management, and network development services, and serves over 800,000 members across more than 5,500 groups through more than 60 insurance companies and third-party administrators. Its PPO network includes more than 18,000 credentialed dentist locations. First Dental Health was acquired by Principal Financial Group in November 2012 and operates as a subsidiary.
What Happened?
On October 17th, 2026, Ransomware.live reported that the ransomware group known as The Gentlemen claimed First Dental Health as a victim on its dark-web leak site, with an estimated attack date of October 16th, 2026. This is an attacker-side allegation only. No public confirmation from First Dental Health or any regulatory body has been found, and no independent corroborating sources have been identified. The specific data types allegedly involved have not been reported.
An important discrepancy is worth noting: The Gentlemen’s leak-site description characterizes the victim as a “dental consulting company based in Sacramento” led by individuals named Michael Zhang and Dr. Rick Kershner — a description that does not match the actual entity operating at firstdentalhealth.com, which is a San Diego-based dental network management company founded by Michael S. Grossman, D.D.S. The attacker’s description may conflate or misidentify the victim, or may refer to an entirely different business. The entire claim should be treated as an unverified allegation.
The Gentlemen is a financially motivated Ransomware-as-a-Service (RaaS) group that first emerged in mid-2025 and is also tracked as Storm-2697. It employs a double-extortion model, meaning it claims to exfiltrate data before encrypting systems. The group is assessed to have connections to the Qilin ransomware ecosystem and is reportedly led by Russian-speaking threat actors. By October 2026, its leak site had listed 954 claimed victims across more than 50 countries, including organizations in the healthcare sector.
Key Facts at a Glance
- Company or Organization: First Dental Health
- Industry: Healthcare – Dental Network Management
- Location: San Diego, California
- Incident type: Ransomware claim (dark-web leak-site allegation; unverified)
- Date of breach: October 16th, 2026 (attacker-estimated; unverified)
- Source: Ransomware.live – Victim: First Dental Health; Bitsight – The Gentlemen Ransomware Group; SOCRadar – thegentlemen Profile; First Dental Health – Official Website
What Should You Do?
If you are concerned that your information may have been affected, consider placing a fraud alert or credit freeze with the three major credit bureaus — Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion — to help prevent unauthorized accounts from being opened in your name. Monitor your financial accounts and credit reports closely for unfamiliar activity, and request your free annual credit reports at AnnualCreditReport.com. If you become a victim of identity theft, the Federal Trade Commission’s IdentityTheft.gov provides step-by-step guidance for reporting and recovery.
Your Legal Rights
If your personal information was involved in this breach, you may have legal rights depending on the facts of the incident and the law in your state. Almeida Law Group represents consumers in data breach and privacy litigation and can help you evaluate whether you may have a claim. Contact us at (708) 529-5418 or through our contact page for a free case evaluation.
