Felon or Disruptor?
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- Published: Friday, 28 April 2023 08:01
- Written by Peter Ingle
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Police in Connecticut recently received a rather unusual call out which resulted in the arrest of a motel guest. In itself, not that unusual, but Hugo Moraes-DeLima, was not vacationing at The La Quinta Inn, where rooms cost from $155 per night. His stay did came under the ‘work’ category, but it was the nature of that work, which was the problem.
He was accused of renting a room and using it to work as a dentist. As local and national papers were quick to point out, DeLima not a dentist and the La Quinta Inn & Suites by Wyndham Danbury, is not a place to practice.
The Danbury Police Department said officers responded to the La Quinta Hotel on Sunday after receiving reports that a guest was practicing dental work. The man inside, identified as DeLima, said he was conducting dental referrals, according to the police.
When officers entered the hotel room, they saw dental equipment, including dental drills, suction machines and a portable X-ray machine. They also found numerous bottles of amoxicillin and other medications.
The police were not alone with the would-be dentist, there was another man present. As officers were arresting DeLima, he emerged from the bathroom. Police said he walked out with “gauze in his mouth, stating he had just had a dental procedure.”
DeLima, of Florida, has been charged with practicing dentistry without a license, illegal sale of prescription drugs and is being held on a $350,000 bond.
Not for the first time, someone has been caught offering dental treatment who is not a registered dental professional. Although on reflection it could be time to reconsider how society views such behaviour. Perhaps DeLima’s mistake was his lack of ambition, borne of his difficult personal circumstances.
Court documents in Palm Beach County show somebody with his last name going through eviction twice from an apartment unit with the Boca Raton address that he gave police. While the owner eventually withdrew the case from November 2021, another one started this January is ongoing. Perhaps DeLima’s problem is that he has not been ambitious enough.
Next time round he might want to describe himself as a ‘dental disruptor’, employ a fearsome legal team and try a hotel in the UK. Judging by their performance with tooth whitening beauticians and direct to consumer aligner providers, he is unlikely to be troubled by the GDC for a while, if ever. He might also find work at the University of Suffolk. After gaining £1.5 million of NHS funding for a dental project with no contract, they might benefit from his actual clinical experience.
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