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Sometimes going to a convenience store can be like pulling teeth
By adamg on Mon, 09/25/2023 - 11:03am
Milford Police report arresting a man they say was running an unlicensed dental clinic in the back of a local convenience store.
Juan Hermida Munoz was arrested on charges of unlicensed practice of dentistry and medicine after an "extensive investigation" by police and the town board of health found him doing dental exams, tooth extractions and cleanings - in procedures that often involved the use of anesthetics, police say.
The owner of the Alternativa Convenience Store was also arrested, on a charge of conspiracy, for renting the space for the dental practice, police say.
Innocent, etc.
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Comments
Is it safe?
n/t
Rumor has it
Both the dentist and a manicurist were vying to rent the space.
They fought tooth and nail for it.
The guy charged here can easily get an attorney as he already has a retainer ready to go.
I had to chew on this post
It’s very incisive.
Wonder if there will be a sound bite
On the evening news.
Kind of brilliant though. Sell products to cause tooth decay in the front and fix it in the back.
Channel 7 News at 9 carried
Channel 7 News at 9 carried the story. nudge, nudge, wink, wink.
Filling a need
But it resulted in a brush with the law.
what about the cosmetologist in the basement
doing bootie enhancements with a caulking gun?
Hey oh!!
(_*_)
Unlicensed or unqualified?
Unlicensed or unqualified? Does this man have a dental education, a license in another country? Maybe the government should figure out why people were apparently so in need of (presumably affordable) dental care they were willing to get it in the back of a convenience store.
Dental Plan
Lisa Needs Braces!
The dentist didn't even have a plaque!
There are questions which might be revelatory. Was this fellow a dentist in another nation and for reasons but could not get licensing in Massachusetts? Who is using the services of this ah, dentist? Was he actually serving a population where dental insurance was out of reach?
A fellow setting up shop as a dentist is not someone looking to make a fast and easy income. He might have been providing a genuine service, albeit without the public facing protections that licensing is supposed to guarrantee.
But then this opens up the question of when is licensing, or regulation, a means for one group to limit a resource, helping to keep the costs higher. Whether that is licensing of taxis, beauticians or dentists. Licensing and regulation is supposed to protect the public. But as with taxis it serves another function of keeping the costs of medallions high. Which then results in higher ride costs which of course harm the public.
One of these is not like the other
One of these is not like the others. Dentists and beauticians: everyone who meets the standard gets a license. Taxis: Artificial, government created scarcity; there are a fixed number of licenses to be had.
Eh
I don't think there are regulations created to "limit a resource" or to "keep the costs higher". There ARE regulations to limit the number of something because having too many would be a problem, presumably (which is not the same thing as "a means for one group to limit a resource") -- call it artificial scarcity if you want, but perhaps not without reason. There are regulations that have outlived their usefulness. But the regulation of dental licenses isn't what "helps to keep the costs high". The cost of dental care is high because it's very expensive to get that education, and it's very expensive to run a practice (think insurance costs, facilities and overhead for billing and so on). Libertarians would have us believe that if you deregulate things, the "invisible hand of the market" will cause prices to fall, but that's a simplistic take. Medical care would be more affordable if the cost of education and maintaining a practice was affordable.