The Children and Women Protection Sub-Division of the police on Saturday confiscated dental braces and improper equipment from two Bangkok shops alleged to having provided illegal dental brace placement services, said sub-division superintendent Pol Colonel Jirakrit Jaruyapat.
The simultaneous raid of “Ploy” and “Pink” shops at the Sai Tai Mai Centre Market in Taling Chan district on Saturday night also led to the arrest of two shop owners – Suthan (last name withheld), 37, and Pornthira (last name withheld), 24, Jirakrit told the press conference at 11pm following the bust.
Both suspects admitted to having provided the service for two months and without proper knowledge of, nor a degree in, dentistry, police said.
Dentist Nita Wiwattanatheepa, a member of the Thai Dental Council’s sub-committee for consumer protection, told the press that the group had received a tip-off that teenagers had obtained fake dental braces from unlicenced amateurs at markets such as these shops, and had alerted police to act.
Although the braces were real, the equipment used was substandard and could contain the toxic metal lead, she said.
The alleged offences were: violating the Dental Profession Act 1994, punishable by a maximum three-year jail term or a maximum Bt30,000 fine, or both; violating the Health Facility Act 1998, punishable by a maximum five-year jail term or a maximum Bt100,000 fine, or both; and violating the Consumer Protection Board’s order 1/2561 banning the selling of fake fashion dental braces punishable by a maximum five-year jail term,or a maximum Bt500,000 fine, or both.
