Task Force Sinks Its Teeth Into Investigations

Two patients were sitting in the waiting room of a dentist’s office in a Lynwood residence when 10 state and county investigators arrived. It seems the dentist had all the trimmings of a successful practice -- an X-ray machine, a sterilizer, a crowded appointment book.

There was just one thing missing: his license.

“Those going to unlicensed dentists are setting themselves up for unsterile, unsanitary and possibly deadly circumstances,” said Theresa Lane, a supervising investigator for the Dental Board of California.

Staph infections, diseases such as hepatitis and HIV, and unnecessary extractions may haunt patients of fake dentists long after treatment is complete, authorities say.

“We’ve tried to remain consistent in prosecuting,” said Don Kass, supervising attorney for the consumer protection section of the Los Angeles city attorney’s office. “We get a fairly steady flow of cases

That’s why the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, through the County Department of Health Services, created a special task force to investigate illegal dentistry, unlicensed medical practitioners and the sale of illicit pharmaceuticals.

Since its inception five years ago, the eight-member team of city and county police and health officials has made more than 750 arrests. Most -- 465 -- were for selling illicit pharmaceuticals, but arrests for unlicensed dentistry ranked second, with 164.

Before the task force’s creation, the state dental board’s staff of investigators was trimmed from 17 to seven, Lane said. She estimates that every month the board, which now has 10 investigators, receives six to eight complaints about unlicensed dental activity in Los Angeles County.

Now, most of the complaints are passed to the task force, which often investigates by sending officers undercover to seek treatment at the suspected facility. After an investigation, the dental board takes over -- serving search warrants and organizing prosecution, Lane said.

Those arrested have included a licensed dentist who hired an auto mechanic to complete dental work; a woman who used her child’s bedroom as an examination room; and a man who mutilated a patient’s mouth, requiring $30,000 worth of corrective surgery.

Lane said that in the past three years the dental board had even caught five repeat offenders.

“It’s much like narcotics and prostitution,” said Sgt. Stephen Opferman, a member of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department and a task force supervisor. “People go back to what they know.”

Most offenders are licensed in another country but cannot pass examinations in California. They open up shop anyway, often seeking out neighborhoods where residents feel more comfortable receiving treatment from someone who speaks their language and understands their customs.

Practicing dentistry without a license is a misdemeanor. If convicted, violators may be sentenced to 60 to 90 days in jail or to performing Caltrans roadwork in lieu of jail time, Kass said.

Kass said more serious felony charges are filed if controlled substances are found, if Medi-Cal fraud is suspected, or if bodily harm or injury is inflicted. Repeat offenders also face felony charges.

“We’re cracking down on them, but because we are catching them, it makes me worry there are many out there we have not caught,” said Los Angeles County Supervisor Gloria Molina. “The reality is, these people need to be held responsible.”

When an undercover LAPD detective appeared at the Lynwood office a few weeks ago, the dentist told him he had a cavity and needed a root canal and a crown. The detective said he would come back for the treatment. When he did, dental board agents were with him.

The man told investigators that he was a licensed dentist in Mexico and had come to California in 1985. He said he had failed the state exams three times but had worked as a dental assistant for 10 years and had owned his illegal practice for the past four years, Opferman said.

He charged $40 for a filling, $60 for a crown and $90 for a root canal.

In the garage was a makeshift dental office with two waiting rooms and an examination room. A 5-gallon container full of used needles sat in the open air in one waiting room while a diploma from the University of Guadalajara hung in another.

The examination room contained an almost 50-year-old X-ray machine; a large, dark green leather chair; and an ancient autoclave, which is used to sterilize instruments. Dirty dental mirrors and scalers filled a sink, and trash bags full of dirty gloves and gauze sat in the corner.

“I feel sorry for people who come here,” said Russell Predmore, a senior investigator with the Dental Board of California, as he sifted through a rusted drawer full of unsterilized extraction tools. “There’s good dental care out there, and people don’t have to come to a place that’s unlicensed.”