In an interview with the newspaper, Gzim Bytyqi, a 50-year-old resident of Ottawa said he had graduated as the former Yugoslavia's youngest dentist ever when he was 23. He said he, his wife and two children arrived in Canada as refugees in 1999.

He has written the Canadian dentistry eligibility exam four times after taking courses to upgrade and scored 31 percent on the most recent one, he said.

Police became involved when 78-year-old Jim Hood, who lives in New York state complained Bytyqi used a dental hammer to break crowns from his teeth in preparation for molding a bridge. Hood said he agreed to have the work done in the basement of a Toronto house to save money but after the initial visit, he developed an infection in his jaw and sinuses that nearly closed his left eye shut, the report said.

Police charged Bytyqi on Jan. 24 with six offenses, including criminal negligence causing bodily harm, fraud and false representation and the case in now in court, the newspaper said.