KUALA LUMPUR: A bogus dentist was jailed a month and fined RM70,000 for setting up a dental clinic without the approval of the Health Ministry.

Chen Jianghong, 48, a China national, pleaded guilty to the charge of running a private dental clinic at a hotel room here.

The judge ordered the sentence to run from Sept 28, the day Chen was nabbed.

He also instructed the accused to be jailed six months if he failed to pay the fine.

Judge Wan Mohd Norhisham Wan Yaakob said the offence was serious as Chen did not have experience as a dentist and had operated a clinic, which was not registered with the ministry.

The judge added that Chen was a foreigner and should not have carried out dental services without a certificate from the Health Ministry.

Earlier in mitigation, Chen's counsel Tan Teck Yew submitted that his client was an assistant to a dentist, the sole breadwinner for his family and that he supported his aged parents, wife and an eight-year-old child in China.

Deputy public prosecutor Nurul Khairiyah Samsudin urged the court to mete out a deterrent sentence in view of public interest and the safety of patients.

Chen was detained by ministry officers when he was carrying out dental treatment on a man in a hotel room. At that time, Chen was wearing a face mask and standing in front of the man who was sitting on a chair.

He was holding dental equipment in one hand while his other hand was in the man's mouth. It was learnt that the man had sought Chen's services to make dentures.