He’s been performing dental procedures for years, cops say. The problem: No license
A man was led out of a Florida dental lab Monday in handcuffs after detectives say he did not have the proper license to do dental work and has been performing work on patients for years.
Julian Saldarriaga, 60, who owns the lab, was charged with practicing dentistry without a license, using dental equipment when not a licensed dentist, both third-degree felonies, and advertising himself as a dentist, a first-degree misdemeanor.
He had not yet been booked into Palm Beach County jail.
The department was alerted to J & D Dental Laboratory after an 83-year-old reported that she developed oral cancer from her dentures.
With the help of the Department of Health, detectives began looking into the lab at 16244 South Military Trail, unit 130.
The woman, who always paid cash for her dental work, told detectives that she has been going to J & D Dental Lab since 2009 for denture repairs. She had seen an ad for the lab at Kings Point — an age 55 and older community — where she lives. In 2018, police say, she got new dentures. Saldarriaga did the fitting.
“A few months later, she noticed sores developing in her mouth where the dentures were rubbing,” police said in a news release.
The sores got worse and Saldarriaga told her to use an over-the-counter mouthwash. Then he “told her he had never seen anything like them and suggested she see a dentist,” police said.
She was diagnosed with Stage 3 cancer and is undergoing radiation treatment out of state, according to police.
This is not the first time Saldarriaga has been charged with practicing dentistry without a license. Delray Beach police arrested him on the same charges in 2001. Records show the case was later dropped after a pretrial diversion program.
In addition to the lab, detectives are searching his home and car.
Anyone with information on Saldarriaga or anyone who believes they may have been a victim is asked to call Detective Kim Mead at 561-243-7829.
This story was originally published July 1, 2019 at 8:35 PM.
