A Florida woman is trading her dental chair for a jail cell after police discovered a fully operational, completely unlicensed dental office running straight out of a local home.
The Florida Department of Health kicked off the investigation after an anonymous tipster reported that a man named Rolando Quintana Garcia was playing dentist from a house on Northwest 90th Street in Miami Gardens. A quick look at state business records revealed a company called “Smiles Everywhere LLC.” While the name sounds cheerful enough, the reality inside the house was apparently a bit more terrifying.
Undercover detectives tracked down the business’s Instagram page and used WhatsApp to book a consultation for veneers. When two undercover cops showed up for their Thursday appointment, they weren’t greeted by a typical living room. Instead, they were escorted into a waiting room right next to a professional dental suite.
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Inside, detectives caught 33-year-old Maria Del Carmen Fontaine-Uliver actively working on a patient’s mouth. According to police reports, she was caught telling the patient to speak up if it hurt so she could inject some anesthetic. At that point, detectives decided they had seen enough and called time-out on the root canals.
Fontaine-Uliver waived her right to an attorney and admitted she was licensed to practice in Cuba, but definitely not in the United States. She confessed she was in the middle of a dental crown procedure when the cops walked in.
A search of the house turned up a professional-grade dental setup and six vials of Xylocaine, a prescription local numbing agent that Fontaine-Uliver had no legal right to possess or give to anyone.
While Fontaine-Uliver does hold a Florida license to take dental X-rays under a doctor’s supervision, the state confirmed she has zero authority to do actual dental work. Her business partner, Quintana Garcia, doesn’t hold any Florida dental license at all.
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Neighbors were completely blindsided by the news, noting that Fontaine-Uliver had lived in the house for about a year without anyone noticing a steady stream of people looking for cavity fillings.
Fontaine-Uliver was booked into the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center and faces charges of practicing dentistry without a license and possessing prescription drugs with the intent to sell or deliver. She was held on a $3,500 bond, while authorities are still deciding whether her partner-in-plaque will face charges as well.
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