A North Port couple was arrested after police discovered they were practicing dentistry without a license.
The investigation started on Nov. 5 when the Florida Department of Health received a tip that two people had been operating an unlicensed dentistry practice out of their home at 1323 S. San Mateo Dr. for five years.
The tipster said that Enrique Sanabria Gravier, 48, and Adriana Gutierrez Hoyos, 47, were working together. They reportedly kept a book in the residence of clients and only performed dentistry work on Hispanic clients, most of which were undocumented immigrants.
They performed services including extractions, braces, crowns etc.
Police say the two were not paying taxes and had no medical insurance for the practice.
According to the tipster, the only way to get an appointment was to call Hoyos and tell her you need a cleaning in Spanish and say that someone recommended them. The practice is called Enrique Dentistry.
No registered business was found in Florida Subiz with that name.
In 2015, Gravier and his daughter did register a business with the Florida Divison of Corporations, but it was inactive as of September of 2016.
Investigators were able to confirm that the suspects do not have a licensed dentistry practice in the state of Florida.
On Feb. 6, 2019, a North Port Police Department detective made a controlled phone call to Hoyos, in which she said a cleaning was $100. They set an appointment for Feb. 13.
The detective arrived at the address the next week, in an exchange which was audibly and visually recorded.
The detective spoke Spanish and sat down on the couch in the living room waiting for his appointment.
While the undercover detective was there, Gravier was finishing up with another client, and Hoyos took business calls and scheduled appointments for other people, which were written down in a ledger.
The detective was later asked to follow the two into the garage. There was a room built inside of the garage that was used as a dentist workspace, complete with a dentist chair, waiting chairs and dental equipment. The detective left the home at that time.
The couple was positively identified, and the tipsters information was corroborated with the detective.
Hoyos and Gravier were charged with practicing dentistry without an active license and conspiring to solicit/conspire a third degree felony.
