Self-taught 'dentist' fined for performing illegal dental procedures on customers in hotels
A woman who learnt how to perform dental procedures on herself during the Covid-19 pandemic began offering such services to customers in Singapore.
She would book hotel rooms in Singapore to perform procedures such as maintenance of braces and veneer application.
However, her ruse was up when a disgruntled customer reported to the authorities that she could not floss her teeth after having veneers put in by the so-called "dentist".
Siti Shahrima Abd Rahim, a 37-year-old Malaysian, was fined S$2,500 (US$1,850) by a district court on Monday (April 8).
She pleaded guilty to one count under the Dental Registration Act, with a second similar charge taken into consideration.
The court heard that Siti works as a part-time waitress at a hotel in Johor Bahru. She would communicate with potential customers on Carousell or WhatsApp and inform them of the hotel locations a few days before the procedures, branding herself as a Malaysian dentist.
In total, she provided composite veneers to about 20 customers, performed braces maintenance on about 10 customers and provided cosmetic braces to at least one customer.