Las Vegas woman charged with posing as dentist had prior complaints

A Las Vegas woman has been charged with posing as a dentist and performing surgical procedures on patients in unsanitary conditions while earning tens of thousands in cash and land payments.

Nevada State Police investigators wrote in an arrest warrant for Maria Loyomorales, 59, that she was once videotaped performing a dental procedure on a client at her Royal Dental Group office, 4506 W. Charleston Blvd., using a “Chicago Electric Power Rotary Tool.” Another patient, police said, was treated in a room as a dog wandered around the office.

“(A witness) mentioned specific patients with dental problems resulting from the treatment by Loyomorales,” police wrote. “(They) ranged from crowns falling off, pulling impressions out of the trash from one patient and using them on another, implants placed in the maxillary sinus, and used implants being sterilized and placed in a patient’s mouth.”

Loyomorales was charged Sept. 13 with eight felonies including unlawful practice of dentistry and performing surgery on another without a license not resulting in substantial bodily harm. She was booked at the Clark County Detention Center on Nov. 17. An attorney representing her did not respond to a request for comment.

An investigation by state police and the Nevada State Board of Dental Examiners, meanwhile, shows Loyomorales has been the subject of complaints in the Las Vegas Valley for more than two decades. Investigators said in the arrest warrant that in 2000 Loyomorales was the subject of a permanent injunction from a District Court judge prohibiting her from practicing dentistry without a license. Another injunction was issued against her in 2009.

Drugs allegedly bought in Mexico

The latest investigation was opened in July 2019. A state investigator went to the now closed Royal Dental Group in 2019 and found “two patients hiding in the employee break room,” police said. Investigators also received complaints of medication being dispensed to patients, including amoxicillan, erythromycin, anesthesia, licodaine, mepivicaine and articaine.

One witness told detectives that there were a lot of complaints from patients about their treatment.

“A majority of patients returned to the dental office in pain and with swollen faces,” police said. “Loyomorales provided antibiotics to the patients, which were brought from Mexico.”

One patient told detectives he was getting a tooth removed by Loyomorales but the anesthesia she administered didn’t work. He later went to another dentist who told him his tooth should have never been removed to begin with. Police also obtained videos from witnesses. In one video, police said, Loyomorales is depicted working on a male patient’s mouth “with a small dog walking around the patient room.”

Nevada State Police detectives ultimately executed a search warrant at Royal Dental Group. They found traditional dental equipment along with patient medical health histories, insurance verification forms and customer records. Investigators then used that information to locate customers and interview them.

Witnesses provide accounts

Police said one customer paid Loyomorales at least $24,000 for dental work and had no issues. Another paid Loyomorales $5,000 in cash and transferred a piece of land near Kingman to her valued at roughly $20,000.

Yet another witness told police Loyomorales dropped a piece of equipment on the floor during treatment, then picked the item up off the floor and tried to place it in the witness’s mouth. One witness said she had lots of problems with implants moving around in her mouth after treatment by Loyomorales. Loyomorales was also accused of selling patients medication from Mexico that was stored in an office file cabinet.

A next court appearance for Loyomorales is scheduled for Dec. 21.

Contact Glenn Puit by email at gpuit@reviewjournal.com. Follow @GlennatRJ on Twitter.