2 arrested for alleged underground dentist operation

Need a root canal? Don't have insurance? One option for Northern Virginians was allegedly a woman's basement office hidden behind a refrigerator.

The alleged pseudodentist and a business associate were arrested last week and charged with performing an invasive procedure without a license, among other counts, Fairfax County police said Monday. A woman told police that an acquaintance, Oscar F. Moran, drove her to a house in the 3000 block of Castle Road in Falls Church on March 27. He escorted her to the basement, allegedly where an unlicensed female dentist performed the root canal, according to a search warrant affidavit written by Fairfax Detective Douglas Comfort.

Two days later, Comfort wrote, the patient developed an infection. Moran allegedly provided amoxicillin, but the infection remained. After obtaining treatment elsewhere, the patient went to the police, Comfort wrote.

On April 5, the patient led police to the house, where Moran reportedly rented the basement. The officers pushed a refrigerator aside and found a hidden office, Comfort wrote.

Moran, 54, and the alleged unlicensed dentist, Amparo Rodriguez, 48, of Dumfries, were arrested later that day, Officer Bud Walker said.

Rodriguez's attorney, B.R. Hicks, said she was a licensed dentist and dentistry instructor in Colombia before coming to the United States.