Fake Dentist Continued Illegal Dental Practice Even After Being Raided, Earned Up To RM6K A Day
MALAYSIA: Nur Farahanis Ezatty Adli, 20, was charged on September 29 by the Sessions Court in Melaka for operating an unregistered private dental clinic and was fined RM 70,000.
She was then sentenced to prison for failing to settle the fine but was released on October 5, serving only six days out of her six month jail term after several NGOs raised funds to help her pay the fine.
The infamous lady in the middle of the fake dentist controversy, Nur Farahanis had apparently set up her own downfall but appears to be unrepentant even after getting caught.
According to media, she put herself on authorities’ radar and was tracked by the Health Department after she lodged a police report claiming that two ‘patients’ did not pay for dental services that she provided.
After enough evidence was gathered against her, the Bakti Homestay in Bukit Katil, Melaka where she ran her unlicensed orthodontic services was raided by the enforcement officers from the department on January 25.
Despite having been raided, she remained unapologetic for her actions as she continued her illegal business, where she was believed to have fitted braces since she was 19 when she was still a student at a vocational college in Melaka.
The temptation to continue the business might have come from the amount she could earn as an anonymous 38-year-old restaurateur told the local daily that Nur Farahanis earned RM6,000 in a day by offering packages of RM650 for full braces and RM350 for a partial fitting.
The restaurateur came to know about Nur Farahanis’ business as he was asked by her father to provide a ‘consultation space’ at his premises for her to promote her services sometime in mid-June.
“Her father asked me to give his daughter a chance to promote her services and I obliged.”
“Her customers were mostly college students. There were also a number of working people who came to see her,” the restaurateur said.
Although Nur Farahanis had given him some token sum for the use of his restaurant as her base, he refused further assistance after he found out that she continued on with her illegal business even after being the target of a raid earlier.
During the raid, Melaka Health, Sport Development and Anti-Drugs Committee deputy chairman Datuk Ng Choon Koon said that three women and two men were also present at the premises.
One of the men was getting his braces fitted during the raid and said that a friend recommended Nur Farahanis’ services to him.
Another customer said that she was attracted to Nur Farahanis’ service because of the much lower fee that she charged.
“It’s definitely less than the RM 2,000 a dental clinic would charge,” said a customer to the news, wishing to remain anonymous.
These illegal dental practices can be appealing to those who want to save up on the cost but the Malaysian Dental Association (MDA) has warned the public against seeking their services because of the dangers that it pose.
“Among the many negative impacts of seeking services from fake dentists include complications that are not only unmanageable by the fake dentists but rendering the disease even more complicated to treat, and may incur higher cost.”
“Infection control is often compromised and the risks of contracting a dangerous infection such HIV, Hepatitis B, Hepatitis C, and probably airborne diseases such as Tuberculosis not only poses a threat to the patients but also to the fake dentists themselves,” the association said in a statement.
