Man practiced dentistry in Utah home without a license, charges say
TAYLORSVILLE, Utah (ABC4) — A man is facing charges for allegedly practicing dentistry without a license in a Taylorsville home.
Enrique Moroni Gomez Vera, 31, was charged Wednesday in Third District Court with unlawful occupational or professional conduct, a third-degree felony.
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The investigation began in November when a Utah College of Dental Hygiene instructor reported a student of hers had a client who received treatment from Gomez Vera.
The client said she went to a home near 4900 S 3600 W to have a tooth pulled, but left in extreme amounts of pain. The pain was so bad, the client went to the hospital for treatment, charging documents state.
The student took an X-ray of the client’s mouth, and discovered part of the root was still in the gums of her mouth.
An investigator with the Utah Department of Professional Licensing found Gomez Vera’s Facebook page, which stated he studied the equivalent of oral medicine in Peru. Gomez Vera called himself “Dr. Enrique Gomez,” and had a photo of himself in a mask and scrubs checking a child’s teeth.
Vera did not have a license to work as a dentist, charging documents state.
Taylorsville Police obtained a search warrant for the home where he was performing dentistry, and officers apprehended Gomez Vera on Nov. 22.
Officers located several dental tools, a pay/owe sheet showing different outstanding amounts from different clients for services, a sterilizer machine, dental molds, miscellaneous medications, a dental cleaning machine, and a dentist sucker in a room inside the residence.
Gomez Vera later admitted to police he worked at the residence providing dental procedures to clients who could not afford traditional oral care, and that he was a dentist in Peru, but not yet licensed to work as a dentist in Utah or Taylorsville.
He said he knew providing dental procedures without a license was illegal, the documents state.
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