Bogus dentist jailed and fined

AN unqualified Moroccan received a 30-month prison sentence for practising as a dentist in Nijar.

He was arrested in 2009 when the Campohermoso health centre contacted the Guardia Civil after doctors had to treat a woman with serious mouth wounds. 

The bogus dentist, who advertised his services as a dentist and dental technician via visiting cards, agreed to remove her eight remaining front teeth and replace them for €150.  Instead he caused so much damage that she later needed orthopaedic treatment and took two weeks to recover.

Officers located the 33-year-old’s clandestine clinic in a Calle Estadio garage equipped with a barber’s chair. A table was littered with scalpels, pliers, dentures, hypodermic syringes, drills and bits, moulds and a sack of plaster for making impressions. Hygiene and safety were completely absent, investigators revealed later.

Although the Public Prosecution recommended a five-year sentence, the provincial High Court reduced this to 30 months owing to the delay in bringing the case to court. The Moroccan must also pay his client €3,660 compensation.