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María del Carmen Fontaine-Uliver, a 33-year-old Cuban resident of Miami Gardens, was arrested on Thursday by agents from the Miami-Dade Sheriff's Office after being caught performing dental procedures without a license at a house located on the 2400 block of Northwest 90th Street.
According to a report by Local 10, the investigation began after the Florida Department of Health received an anonymous tip pointing to a man identified as Rolando Quintana García practicing dentistry without a license from his home.
The detectives tracked down a company registered in the name of Quintana García: Smiles Everywhere LLC, active in the state records until March 2025, where he appeared as the registered agent and Fontaine-Uliver as the business manager.
During the undercover investigation, the agents located an Instagram account associated with Smiles Everywhere and contacted Quintana García via WhatsApp to request a consultation for dental veneers, according to the arrest report.
Quintana García scheduled an appointment for two undercover detectives for this Thursday.
Upon arriving at the residence, the agents were led to a waiting room adjacent to what they described as "a fully operational dental office."
There, they observed Fontaine-Uliver actively performing dental work on a patient seated in a reclining chair, instructing her to "let him know if she felt any pain or discomfort so he could administer anesthesia," according to the report.
The investigators intervened immediately and detained her.
After being informed of her rights in Spanish, Fontaine-Uliver agreed to speak without a lawyer and admitted that "she is licensed in Cuba, but not in the United States," and that she was performing a dental crown procedure on the patient.
The subsequent inspection of the residence revealed a fully equipped dental office, including six vials of Xylocaine, a prescription dental anesthetic.
The vials were confiscated as evidence; authorities confirmed that Fontaine-Uliver is not licensed to possess or administer that medication.
Authorities confirmed that Fontaine-Uliver does hold a valid license in Florida as a dental radiographer, allowing her to take X-rays under the direct supervision of a licensed dentist, but not to perform procedures independently.
Quintana García, for his part, has no license to practice dentistry in Florida, according to the state's Department of Health.
Fontaine-Uliver was transferred to the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center and faces charges of practicing dentistry without a license and possession of prescription medications with the intent to sell or distribute them.
At the close of this report, the Cuban woman was still in custody at the correctional facility with bail "pending establishment," and it was unclear whether Quintana García would also face charges in the case.
This case is not the first of its kind in South Florida.
In September, Emely Martínez was arrested in Pinellas Park for offering dental veneers without a license using homemade materials, marking her second arrest for the same offense in less than a year.
In March, Eduardo Rivero Ríos, a 61-year-old Cuban, was arrested in Houston for performing extractions and dental cleanings without a license from his apartment, also claiming to have qualifications in Cuba and Venezuela but not in the United States.
In Florida, practicing dentistry without a license is classified as a third-degree felony under Chapter 466 of the state statutes, with a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a fine of up to $5,000.
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