DETROIT – Dental braces can fix a number of issues: crooked teeth, gaps, under bites, overbites, jaw issues and more. Braces can also cost quite a bit of money, which is why a Facebook advertisement pricing braces at just $150 was enticing to some residents in Metro Detroit.
Help Me Hank received pictures of the advertisements that were popping up on Facebook and Instagram.
A Detroit woman was promising to put braces on the top and bottom teeth for $150 each, tighten them for $50, fix the braces for $10 to $20 and whiten teeth for $65.
In the ads, she said her name is Ms. Johnson.
In a phone call with an undercover producer, Local 4 learned that she will put on braces at her home or a customer’s home.
When she met with the undercover producer at a home in Detroit, the woman told Help Me Hank her name was LaToya Michaels and that she would do the braces there at the house, rather than at a dentist’s office or clinic.
When asked if she was a licensed professional, Michaels told Help Me Hank she was. Help Me Hank did the research and found there is nobody licensed as a dentist or orthodontist using those two names or affiliated with her number.
Consumer investigator Hank Winchester approached Michaels while she was with Help Me Hank's undercover producer. She lied, saying he was her friend and that he wasn't there for a dental procedure. Michaels also told Winchester that she wasn't the one who puts braces on people, but she will get the person who does.
After getting in touch with the State Licensing Department and the Michigan Dental Association, an investigation is underway.
You can watch the full confrontation in the video posted above.