Tahlequah Daily Press

Get the scoop!

Related Photos

  • Police and city officials shut down an illegal dentist office being run by Maira Josefina Villanueva, who claims to be dentist in the Dominican Republic (Photo by Paul Bilodeau/The Eagle-Tribune/North Andover, Mass.)

    121211_ET_HAND_DENTIST_4

Discussion

Add a comment on this story
December 13, 2012

Illegal dental office shut down

CNHI News Service

ANDERSON, Ind. — An unlicensed dentist who treated as many as 30 patients a day was shut down this week after local and federal detectives stumbled upon her illegal “makeshift dental office” during a drug investigation.

Patients sat in lawn chairs set up in a waiting room prior to their appointments, according to a police report.

Criminal charges are now being sought against Maira Josefina Villanueva, 43, who claimed to be a doctor in her native country, the Dominican Republic. She told police she recently opened the office. because she has “an infant child and needs money,” according to a report by Officer William Olivieri.

Villanueva said “she works on people with minor toothaches, fixing cavities, tightening braces, changing crowns and so forth,” Olivieri wrote. She said she did not pull teeth “due to not being outfitted for such things,” according to his report.

She said she became a licensed doctor in the Dominican Republic in 1997 and worked for the government there for several years. She came to the United States in 2001 but never obtained proper dental licensing here afterwards.

Police were not able to substantiate that Villanueva was a doctor in the Dominican Republic, Police Chief John Romero said.

Inside, police found a dental chair “you would see in any dental office,” Olivieri wrote. Cabinets contained medical supplies and there was a bench area with dental tools.

She was issued a summons for a public health crime, posing as a dentist, which is punishable by six months in jail and/or a fine of $1,000. 

---

Detaiils for this stor were provided by The Eagle-Tribune in North Andover, Mass.

 

Text Only
Get the scoop!
Poll

Where do you think bicycle trails are most needed in Cherokee County?

In the downtown corridor.
Not downtown, because it would be too congested, but on peripheral streets, like Bluff, Downing and College, and Muskogee but not downtown.
On the rural highways mainly in recreational areas, like Highways 10 and 82.
Only in special areas, like parks.
I do not think Cherokee County needs any (or more) bike trails.
     View Results
Press Sports Twitter Updates
Follow us on twitter
Follow me on Twitter
AP Video
Hoffa Mystery Still Fascinates After 4 Decades Raw: 1 Dead in Shooting at Mo. Apartment Complex Raw: Huge Fire Near Yosemite National Park Raw: Obama Arrives in Berlin 3 Charged in Ohio With Enslaving Mom, Daughter Obama Seeks G-8 Support on Syria Raw: Volcano Erupts Near Mexico City Kid Couture: Spending Big Bucks on Babies Suicide Bombs Target Baghdad Mosque, Killing 29 Military Plans to Put Women in Combat Jobs Solar Power Chargers in NYC Parks Civil Rights Groups Sue NYPD Over Muslim Spying Raw: First Lady, Daughters Enjoy Irish Sights RAW: NSA Director Says 50 Plots Foiled Boeing, Airbus Battle for Sales Supremacy
Stocks
Bedlam