The mug shots were drastically different. This time, Krista Szewczyk was smiling, she wore makeup and her hair was neat. But the accusation was the same and just as serious.
For the second time in two weeks, Szewczyk was arrested for allegedly posing as a dentist. The investigation began in Paulding County before moving into neighboring Cobb, and authorities in both counties warned there could be more charges.
Szeweczyk, 47, has allegedly pulled teeth, applied fillings, replaced crowns and wrote prescriptions for pain medications. But she has no medical license and isn’t even a dental hygienist, records show.
Early Thursday morning, investigators searched both Szewczyk’s Paulding County home and her Marietta office. Boxes were removed from the home and a computer was taken from the County Dental Providers office. But Szewczyk was not seen at either place.
At noon, Cobb County deputies arrested Szewczyk for driving with an expired tag, the Cobb Sheriff's Office said. That's when deputies saw Szewczyk's warrant and she was booked into jail. She was charged with practicing dentistry without a license, her jail record showed, and she was later released on $5,000 bond.
“The accused did practice dentistry without a license when she molded, fitted and installed a crown into the mouth of Sylvia Ferguson,” her arrest warrant states.
The latest victim told Marietta police Szewczyk performed the work between September 2016 and last month, the warrant states. But investigators believe Szewczyk’s crimes date back at least six years.
Szewczyk allegedly pulled teeth, applied fillings, replaced crowns and wrote prescriptions for pain medications, but she doesn’t have a license to practice dentistry, according to investigators. Her work sent at least one man to the hospital for emergency surgery to repair the damage done to his mouth.
Credit: Photo: Bob Andres, AJC
Credit: Photo: Bob Andres, AJC
As early as 2012, Szewczyk was performing illegal work on the mouths of customers, according to her indictment. Szewczyk was previously accused of posing as a dentist, according to the Paulding DA’s office, but at that time, her husband was a Paulding sheriff’s deputy, and the DA’s office determined it was a conflict of interest to pursue the charges. Instead, Szewczyk was offered a pre-trial diversion program.
But even though she was warned she could not legally perform dental work, Szewczyk allegedly continued to run her Paulding County business, and performed dental procedures in some patients’ homes, and complaints continued to come in about her. She later closed that office and in 2017 re-opened County Dental Services, this time in Marietta.
On Aug. 23, Szewczyk was arrested after a Paulding grand jury indicted her on 48 counts, including 40 counts of practicing dentistry without a license, three counts of writing unlawful prescriptions, one count of forgery and three counts of insurance fraud.
Since that arrest, investigators in both Paulding and Cobb counties have received numerous tips from other potential victims. Meanwhile, Szewczyk bonded out of jail.
Licensed dentists are contracted to work from the County Dental Providers office, but Szewczyk was not one of them. She holds no professional license, according to the Georgia Department of Community Health, Georgia Composite Medical Board and Secretary of State’s Office.
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