A dentist in France has been jailed after mutilating patients from disadvantaged neighbourhoods in a scheme to earn money.
Lionel Guedj was sentenced to eight years after a court heard that patients were having healthy teeth removed for no medical reason.
According to the report by The Guardian, the 41-year-old dentist carried out unnecessary procedures on healthy patients in order to defraud France’s social security system. The patients largely came from the northern quarters of Marseille.
For example, between 2006 and 2012, Guedj was said to have undertaken almost 4,000 root canal procedures who had no medical need for the treatment.
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Lack of safety
He also spent only ten minutes on procedures that usually take 45 minutes to an hour to safely complete.
According to reports, in 2010, he was France’s highest-paid dentist – earning upwards of €2.9 million. France’s national health service claimed fitted 28 times more bridges than the country’s average dentist.
During the trial – which lasted six weeks – one of the patients told the court that they ‘have pain 24 hours a day’. They added that they have had to put their life on standby as a result of the treatment.
‘Destroyed’ lives
Others said that they cannot afford to have their teeth treated again.
Guedj’s father, Carnot Guedj, worked part-time at the practice and was jailed for five years alongside his son.
The judge said condemned the ‘systematic’ scheme set up by the pair, adding that it has ‘destroyed’ the lives of patients
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