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MINEOLA, NY – A Hempstead woman has been charged with illegally practicing dentistry from her one-bedroom apartment, where she allegedly performed dental extractions and other procedures without a license, Nassau County District Attorney Anne T. Donnelly announced Tuesday.

Gladys Serrano, 70, was charged with unauthorized practice of a profession, a misdemeanor. She pleaded not guilty and was released under electronic pretrial supervision. Judge Charles G. McQuair ordered Serrano to surrender her passport and barred her from leaving New York state. She will appear in court on January 8, 2025.

Prosecutors allege Serrano pulled five teeth from a victim on July 26, 2024, after a brief visual examination in her makeshift office, located in the kitchen of her apartment on Greenwich Street in Hempstead. A curtain separated the kitchen from the rest of the apartment, and the “office” was equipped with a patient chair near a sink, drawers containing used dental instruments and medicine bottles.

Serrano allegedly charged the victim $1,950 for multiple visits but failed to deliver a functional dental bridge as promised. The victim returned several times between August and December 2024 in an attempt to resolve the problem, but the bridge never fit.

A search warrant executed at Serrano’s residence uncovered numerous dental instruments, impression molds, tartar scrapers, used dental needles and boxes of medications, including lidocaine and amoxicillin. State records show Serrano is not licensed to practice dentistry in New York.

“Practicing dentistry without proper authorization poses an incredibly serious risk to public health and safety,” said DA Donnelly. She urged anyone who believes they have been victimized by Serrano to contact the Nassau County District Attorney’s Office of Immigrant Affairs.

The case is being prosecuted by Senior Investigative Counsel Jennifer Contreras of the Major Financial Frauds Bureau. Serrano faces up to four years in prison if convicted.