By Melinda McCrossen, For The Mountain Times
Well, some dental news from an unlikely place this month – jail. A man is suing a Pennsylvania corrections department and health contractor for problems associated with tooth extractions he had when he was in jail, according to a story recently in the Bucks County Courier Times.
According to the story, the former inmate had to have two teeth removed while in jail. Due to complications, the patient needed antibiotics after the surgery to help treat infection. Unfortunately, his problem persisted and further follow up revealed a problem that needed correction by an oral surgeon, so the dentist referred him to an oral surgeon for that treatment.
Up to this point, because he was an inmate, he was covered for any surgeries. But just before the surgery date, he was paroled! The medical insurance company that the corrections facility contracted with consequently denied any coverage for the upcoming oral surgery, forcing the former inmate to cancel the surgery. Apparently, he was only covered under this plan while actually physically in jail.
This reminded me of a memory of dental school 20 years ago. During my oral surgery rotations at the clinic and hospital there were rotations that involved treating inmates from jail. These were always extractions and did not involve any other dental treatments. It was hard to stay calm at first when the inmate walked in, fully shackled and with a dedicated guard accompanying him at all times. I worked on a number of inmates and despite some initial apprehension, they all turned out to be fairly respectful and very appreciative to be out of pain when the procedure was over.
I’ll never forget one of the inmates that I had the luck of drawing to my chair. He was by far the biggest guy there. He was giant, I mean a mountain of a man, with a very stern look and too many tattoos to count. It was like something out of a movie. He looked like he could squash me like an ant. My fellow dental students just looked at me with the look of “good luck buddy, it was nice knowing you, thank god it’s not me.”
To top it off his name was “Snakes.” I’m sure that wasn’t his real name, but he said to call him “Snakes” and I was more than willing to oblige. “Ok Snakes, how can I help you?”
He needed 2 teeth pulled. The procedure started and I was surprised to find that he was actually terrified of me! He was on the verge of tears as I got ready to administer the anesthetic. Luckily for both of us, his teeth came out no problem, he thanked me profusely, and off he went in his shackles with his prison guard. We both lived to tell the tale – who would have guessed he was probably the person most afraid of anything that day!
I’m not sure if it is still common practice for dental residents to do teeth extractions on inmates, but it certainly made for an out of the ordinary experience.
Getting back to the story of the inmate in Pennsylvania: the outcome of the case has not been decided yet. However, in what can only be described as “convenient irony,” the former inmate has now found himself back in prison for a parole violation. It remains to be seen if he can finally have this corrective surgery after all.