Fraudster dentists target immigrants
An investigation carried out by the Toronto Star has revealed that a number of bogus dentists are targeting immigrants in the city.
The dentists, who don’t have valid licenses in most cases, target immigrants because they are easy prey; many of them don’t speak the language, many are on low incomes or have no job and most have not made arrangements for health and dental care at approved organisations or practices. Dentists offer cut price treatment lure in patients with incentives.
Reporters from the newspaper interviewed many immigrants, who said the standards of care they received from the bogus dentists in Canada were similar to those they were used to in their home country. Going to a bogus dentist is seen as part and parcel of immigrant culture and those who are not happy with the practice of seeing an illegal dentist are often afraid to speak out in front of other members of the community.
The practice of running underground, illegal dental practices is increasingly popular and police services around the world are clamping down in a bid to protect people’s health. Since the recession hit, people have been struggling to afford dental care and many people in Canada don’t have dental insurance. Officials from dentistry watchdogs say they are working hard to shut down illegal practices but are struggling to cope with the expanse of the operations, with new surgeries opening up as soon as police manage to close down another one.
Conditions uncovered by investigators were described as ‘dingy’, with many dentists operating in basements and back rooms which have little natural light. Many dentists carry out treatments, which require making incisions and cleaning up blood; without the necessary sterilisation processes and infection control, the risk of infection is very high and the patient could end up with an illness that results in a significantly larger bill than they anticipated.
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