Two more illegal dentists exposed in British Columbia

British Columbia's crackdown on unlicensed dentists is continuing as court proceedings revealed the profession's regulators are after two more underground practitioners.

While Tung Sheng Wu cools his heels in a B.C. jail, a B.C. Supreme Court judge approved the unsealing of civil search warrants concerning two other bogus dentists, Global News reported.

Wu, also known as David Wu, was the subject of a Canada-wide search after his illegal practice was exposed last summer. He eventually turned himself in to authorities in Toronto last month and returned to B.C. to serve a three-month sentence for contempt of court related to a previous prohibition to practise.

[ Related: B.C. Man who practised dentistry without a licence to serve jail sentence ]

The registrar of the College of Dental Surgeons of B.C., along with a lawyer and private investigator, appeared in court Tuesday to unseal warrants against two other so-called "basement dentists," Global News said.

They were identified as Hua Zheng Huang, who operated out of East Vancouver, and Vladimir Shapoval, whose operation was located in suburban Coquitlam.

Investigators raided Huang's operation in October after a complaint from a member of the public who'd gone to see him for treatment.

The college said its investigators, with police standing by, seized dental material and equipment but found no patient files at the location. Huang was issued a temporary injunction barring him from practising dentistry.

"Although Mr. Huang’s practice did not meet infection control standards required of B.C. dentists, it was clear that there were some efforts at infection control," registrar Jerome Marburg said on the college's web site.

"After consulting with health authorities, we believe a public health alert is not warranted. However, anyone who sees an illegal practitioner puts themselves and their family at risk for bacterial and viral infections."

Shapoval's cases is potentially more serious because, like Wu, he'd been banned previously from practising dentistry. The college closed down his operation in 2006, when he consented to a prohibition order.

After Wu was discovered violating his 2003 prohibition, the college reviewed other such cases and found evidence Shapoval was again practising dentistry out of his Coquitlam home, which was raided in October.

The case is headed back to court early next year, where presumably the college could seek a contempt ruling like the one that put Wu in jail.

[ Related: Bogus B.C. dentist’s exposure highlights problem of underground medicine in Canada ]

Underground dentistry is a thriving business in Canada. The Toronto Star noted in a 2010 article that 32 per cent of Canadians don't have dental insurance and 17 per cent avoided seeing a licensed dentist in 2009 because of cost.

Illegal dentists often come from overseas and could not or did not try to get licensed in Canada. Their so-called practices tend to target immigrants from their home countries. They operate out of a variety of spaces, from basements to spare bedrooms and vacant apartments, often with little attempt at keeping things sterile.

The Star's piece noted cases of patients requiring thousands of dollars in remedial dental work to repair the damage done by bogus practitioners.

“I’ve never once yet met someone who is practicing dentistry illegally who is doing it out of the goodness of their heart," B.C. college registrar Marburg told Global News. "These guys are preying on victims and are often causing harm — they are to be avoided."

Health officials combed Wu's files and followed up with more than 450 of his patients to test them for blood-borne illnesses, the Globe and Mail reported last month.

The Fraser Health Authority tested patients for Hepatits B and C, as well as HIV.

“To date, Fraser Health has not identified any individuals who acquired an infection as a result of seeing Mr. Wu,” Dr. Michelle Murti, medical health officer for Fraser Health, told the Globe.

“Fraser Health did identify a small number of people who tested positive for blood-borne illnesses, however all of those individuals were aware of their infections prior to seeing Mr. Wu.”