DEERFIELD BEACH, Fla. -- Police in Deerfield Beach have arrested a man they say posed as a dentist and worked on patients for two years before he was caught.

Milton Melo Filho of Deerfield Beach was arrested on Wednesday and charged with practicing a health care profession without a license, which could bring up to 15 years in prison if he is convicted.

The illegal practice was shut down by the Broward Sheriff's Office and the Florida Department of Health.

Officials said one of Filho's patients suffered a ruptured tooth root and the dentist gave him outdated drugs to treat it.

The Florida Department of Health received a complaint from a man who said Filho had come to his Deerfield Beach apartment four times to perform dental work.

Deerfield Beach detectives used the man to set up a sting today to catch the dentist. The man set up another appointment in his own home, while detectives bugged the apartment and hid two investigators in an adjoining room.

A search of Filho's car turned up an appointment book indicating he had been performing dentistry without a license for nearly two years.