A New York woman was arrested on Friday and accused of practicing dental work without a license in a dental office found inside her home on Long Island, Suffolk County Police announced.
Yolany Y. Mejia Carranza, 55, is charged with three felony counts of unauthorized practice of a profession after multiple people who sought her out for dental care reported being injured as a result of her practice, Police Commissioner Kevin Catalina said at a press conference.
At least one person suffered severe nerve damage that led to partial facial paralysis, he added.
The charges “basically” mean that Mejia Carranza was “operating as a dentist without actually being a dentist,” Catalina said.
Catalina told reporters that the woman previously operated another illegal dental business in Huntington Station, but moved the operation to her home in Bay Shore when she thought she was going to get caught, KGNS-TV reported.
A search of her home revealed a “fully functioning dentist’s office,” according to the announcement.
Mejia Carranza’s patients were receiving only local anesthesia, not getting the appropriate anesthesia for the “complex dental procedures she was doing,” Catalina said, according to WABC-TV. Police said they also found antibiotics that had been ordered from overseas.
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Police believe there are more victims, Catalina said at the press conference. He said Mejia Carranza targeted the Hispanic community, mostly people who did not have health insurance and “many” who were undocumented, according to the announcement.
Mejia Carranza pleaded not guilty and is out of jail on supervised release, KGNS-TV reported.