A Long Island woman has been accused of having a position with a dentist and doing dangerous root canals and dental extractions against undocumented uninsured immigrants.
Suffolk County Police arrested Yolanie Meziah Karanza, 55, on Thursday in connection with false practices.
Karanza has been accused of running a makeshift dental clinic in Bayridge, despite having never been to dental school.
“What she's doing is extremely dangerous,” said Suffolk County Police Commissioner Kevin Catalina. “I don't know what her background is. All we know is that she wasn't trained as a dentist.”
Police say they received hints from several injured patients, including those who suffered nerve damage from procedures that caused partial facial paralysis.
“It has to be very traumatic,” Katarina said.
The detectives executed a search warrant and found a fully functional dental clinic.
Police say Karanza was exploiting the Hispanic community – the uninsured, undocumented immigrant learned about her practice through word of mouth. Her business is cash only and police believe she got antibiotics from abroad, but they performed the procedure without proper anesthesia.
She is said to have carried out the scam for a total of eight years on Bayshore and at her previous location at Huntington Station. Police said they “didn't even guess” the length of her victim list.
“I think it's extensive,” Katarina said.
Karanza was arrested in court on Friday and charged with three counts of unfair occupational practices, a Class E felony in New York.
She was released and returned to Suffolk 1st District Court on April 1st.
Karanza's lawyer did not reply to requests for comment.
