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TAYLORSVILLE — A man who police say is licensed to practice in dentistry in another country, but not currently in Utah, is under investigation for allegedly treating clients in his home.
As of Tuesday, the 32-year-old man had not been arrested. But police say they have forwarded their case to the Salt Lake County District Attorney's Office to be screened for possible charges.
According to Taylorsville police, the man was a licensed dentist in Peru and was in the process of trying to obtain a license to practice locally. But he was already allegedly treating people in his home near 4900 S. 3600 West despite not being certified yet by the Utah Division of Occupational Licensing.
The investigation began in November when the state licensing division received a complaint from an instructor at the Utah College of Dental Hygiene School. The instructor reported that the patient of a student had had a tooth pulled by the man.
On the man's Facebook page, detectives found a picture of a man "wearing blue rubber gloves and a mask checking teeth of a child," a search warrant affidavit states.
Taylorsville police served a search warrant at the man's residence. A police spokesman described the dentistry setup inside as being clean, but noted it was still illegal because he did not have a professional license in Utah.
Furthermore, the patient who reported having a tooth pulled was found to have part of the root still in her gums and "she was in a lot of pain after the extraction; she had to go to the hospital to be treated," according to the warrant.
According to the search warrant return, investigators seized "dental equipment, medication, dental impressions of other victims, and other misc items." As of Tuesday, police did not have an estimate of how many patients the man may have treated.
Correction: An earlier version incorrectly reported that a dental school student had a tooth pulled by the Taylorsville man; it was a friend of a student who had the tooth pulled.
