New York Woman who pretended the dentist acted in undocumented immigrants: police officers

A Long Island woman is accused of impersonating a dentist and performing dangerous root canals and dental extractions in undocumented immigrants and without insurance, giving a facial paralysis, even though she has no dental qualifications.

Suffolk County Police arrested the Yolía Mejia Carranza, 55, Thursday in relation to simulated practice.

Carranza is accused of executing an improvised dental clinic in Bay Ridge even though he never went to the School of Dentistry.

“What he is doing is extremely dangerous,” said Suffolk County Police Commissioner Kevin Catalina. “We don’t know what his background is. What we do know is that she was not trained as a dentist. ”

Police say that he received advice from several injured patients, including one who suffered nervous damage for a procedure, which caused partial facial paralysis.

“It has to be extremely traumatic,” Catalina said.

The detectives executed a search warrant and discovered a fully functional dental office.

Police say that Carranza was exploiting the Hispanic community, mostly undocumented immigrants without insurance, who learned of their practice through mouth to mouth. His business was only in cash, and the police believe he obtained antibiotics from abroad, but performed procedures without adequate anesthesia.

He alleges that he directed the scam at Bay Shore, and in a previous place at the Huntington station, for a total of eight years. The police said that “they could not even guess” how long their list of victims lasted.

“I imagine it’s extensive,” Catalina said.

Carranza was prosecuted in the Court on Friday and accused of three positions of unauthorized practice of a profession: a severe class E crime in New York.

It was released and expires in the district court of the 1st of Suffolk on April 1.

Carranza’s lawyer did not return a request for comments.