North Carolina's State Board of Dental Examiners is warning of a troubling trend: People posing as dentists and dental hygienists and performing shoddy work that could end up causing injury and costing a lot of money to repair.
Bobby White, executive director and legal counsel for the board, says they've noticed an uptick of this issue in roughly the last year-and-a-half.
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"Generally, they advertise 'we can do the same thing your dentist can do, but we can do it for much less expense,'" he explained, saying that clients often find the providers on social media.
White said there have been situations in which people received dental work in a shed, a garage or even their own home. He described some of the situations the dental board investigators have seen.
"Practicing dentistry in a shed in the backyard and the infection control sterilization issues, there just were none," he said. "And people were getting severe infections ... Another case, in Mecklenburg County several years ago, where a guy was specializing in extractions from his garage. And he was importing drugs from other countries. That was a horrendous case as well. A number of people were hurt by him."
White said they typically learn of these situations when patients who have been harmed go to a licensed dentist and explain what happened, or when the patients file a complaint with the state dental board.
White explained there are currently has more than a dozen injunctions the board has filed to stop the unauthorized practice of dentistry.
"All that we are seeking is for them to stop," he said. "No money damages, no fines, nothing ... I imagine we have just the tip of the iceberg," he said.
White said, in some cases, it would seem the so-called dentists know what they are doing is wrong. In others, perhaps they have a license from another country and think they can practice in the U.S., or they have a certification from a school that they thought was legitimate, but actually is not.
"They’ll sell them this educational kit and equipment," he said. "Why don’t you do this, you can do this in your state, it’s legal, we’ve already checked this out. Our board has no animosity toward those folks. I think they’re getting sold a bill of goods, too."
If the individuals do not comply with the injunctions, they could face misdemeanor charges for unauthorized practice of dentistry. White says the dental board does not have the authority to pursue criminal charges, but it provides information on its investigations to district attorneys, who could decide to pursue criminal charges. Usually, White says district attorneys opt not to, due to resource constraints in their offices.
One case out of Eastern North Carolina describes a mom and her two children who all got braces, in their home, from a woman named Kia Foreman who claimed to be certified, but really was not. Court documents explain the family found the provider on a website called Booksy. She "had dental equipment and supplies in a rolling suitcase," and charged only $300.
Because of that, the dental board filed an injunction against Foreman in 2022 to try to get her to stop performing dental work.
Court records show, though, that she has pending criminal charges for a similar incident that is alleged to have occurred in 2023. In that case, she is facing criminal charges for obtaining property by false pretense, a felony, and for the unauthorized practice of dentistry, a misdemeanor. According to an arrest warrant, she performed dental/orthodontic work at the victim's home and the victim's friend's home, and charged "between $725 and $825 for the procedures."
WRAL Investigates attempted to reach Foreman for comment, but did not hear back.
It's a cautionary tale for others.
"If it's too good to be true, it's probably not true," White said.
In order to ensure you are getting services from a licensed dentist, White said to look for a dental license, which state law requires to be displayed in the office in a visible location.