Unlicensed Boca Raton dentist claims 6,000 patients, deputies say
A dentist who isn't licensed in Florida told an undercover sheriff's deputy that his underground Boca Raton practice has 6,000 patients, deputies said. Ubaldo Bittencourt, 62, only sees fellow Brazilians who speak Portuguese, according to a Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office arrest report.
As a rule, the "very cautious" Bittencourt, a dentist in his native Brazil, doesn't answer his phone, preferring instead to return voice mails within 24 hours.
So when an undercover deputy called him on May 29 as part of an investigation, leaving a message in Portuguese, the unlicensed dentist called back, deputies said.
On Thursday, the dentist was arrested, his capture the culmination of a probe that began when the Sheriff's Office received a complaint about him on March 1.
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