COBB COUNTY, Ga. -- An unlicensed dentist left a woman with “irreparable damage to her tooth” and severe pain after a botched root canal, Cobb County Police said Thursday.
The woman told investigators she’d had the root canal done at what, police say, turned out to be an illicit dentist’s office.
According to a release, “the procedure was done improperly, causing irreparable damage to her tooth.”
An investigation revealed the illicit office had been practicing as far back as 2010 and “numerous victims” were found.
Authorities said two women, 35-year-old Bianca Zambrano-Blanco and 40-year-old Carolina Rojas Morales, were charged with a felony for practicing dentistry without a license. Morales was also charged with felony aggravated battery.
The patient's root canal, this past January, "was done improperly and totally destroyed that tooth,” said Cobb County Police Sergeant Wayne Delk.
Sgt. Delk says investigators found records in the office indicating the two women who worked there have been in business for nearly a decade. Delk says the women were preying upon primarily Spanish speaking patients who are uninsured or under insured, and he says the women offered them reduced rates if they paid cash.
“These persons actually caused harm to innocent people,” Delk said. “There are other victims out there, and I believe we may actually have made contact with some of them, but we’re still hoping more of them will come forward.”
Tucker Dentist Luis Limeres said unlicensed dentists set up shop all across Metro Atlanta, targeting a lucrative market--immigrants afraid they have nowhere else to go.
“I absolutely see this, immigrants are in a bind as far as oral health care.” Dr. Limeres said. "These clinics pop up, and they offer reduced prices, so it’s a sad place to be, but in desperation, this is where they get to.”
Dr. Limeres, in private practice, also works with Mercy Care, where dentists and physicians offer services, free. And he's trying to get the word out to everyone, including immigrants, that there’s no need to go to someone who is unlicensed.
Sgt. Delk is urging people who believe they have been harmed by the women to come forward.
"We would like to get justice for them.”
Delk said people can call investigators at 770-499-3945.
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