MIAMI GARDENS, FLA. (WSVN) - A woman was arrested Thursday in Miami Gardens after undercover Miami-Dade Sheriff’s detectives caught her in the act of performing dental work on a patient inside a home converted into a makeshift dental office, authorities said.
Maria D. Fontaine-Uliver, 33, faces a third-degree felony charge of practicing dentistry without a license.
The investigation began after the Florida Department of Health tipped off local authorities that a business called Smiles Everywhere LLC was operating an unlicensed dental practice.
Detectives traced the company through state business records and found Fontaine-Uliver listed as the title manager. Although she holds an active dental radiographer license in Florida, authorities said that license only allows for X-rays and similar procedures, and only under the direct supervision of a licensed dentist.
The registered agent of the business, Rolando Quintana Garcia, was also found to have no dental license.
Detectives made contact with the operation through its Instagram account and arranged an undercover appointment via WhatsApp for a veneer consultation.
On Thursday, two undercover detectives arrived at the home and were directed to a waiting room adjacent to a room set up as a dental office. There, they observed Fontaine-Uliver working inside a patient’s mouth while the patient reclined in a dental chair.
She told the patient she would administer an anesthetic if needed. That is when detectives gave a takedown signal and detained her.
Fontaine-Uliver told investigators she is licensed to practice dentistry in Cuba but not in Florida, and acknowledged she had been performing a crown on a patient.
A search of the home revealed a fully operational dental setup, including six vials of Xylocaine, a prescription anesthetic she is not licensed to possess or administer.
Fontaine-Uliver was transported to Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center without incident.
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