Dentist accused of paper clip use in root canals

[Snake Alchemist]

NEW BEDFORD, Massachusetts (AP) — A former dentist in the U.S. has pleaded guilty to fraud for using paper clips instead of stainless steel posts in root canals.

Michael Clair will be sentenced next Monday after pleading guilty last week in a Massachusetts court to a variety of charges, including defrauding a government health program of $130,000, assault and battery, illegally prescribing prescription drugs and witness intimidation.

Authorities say instead of stainless steel posts for root canals, he used sections of paper clips — which can cause pain and even infection — in an effort to save money.

http://news.yahoo.com/dentist-accused-paper-clip-root-canals-121231462.html

Another example of why we can't have nice things. You're supposed to be healing the sick Doctor!

[Demeter]

1. Jeebus

[mojowork_n]

25. Wow. I went to a new dentist today.

First trip in 5 or 6 years, because I finally gave in and
said, "OK, take out a few bucks every month to cover
the teeth." (In between not having jobs to offer the
option to deny that choice.)

I'm glad that the Internet search for the closest
provider to my office turned up an XX practitioner
who wasn't born in the U.S.

No knowing for sure how the dentist-patient relationship
is going to work out, but I feel a little bit lucky the web
didn't turn up an XY -- more likely to be a rip-off artist? --
possible tooth vulture.

....Still, I wonder -- what the hell happened there? Did
the Fed Ex man not show up on time, with the right
stuff? Someone accidentally flushed the stuff they were
going to use, when it looked like a drug bust? The
dentist was temporarily insane, from overuse of certain
recreational pharmaceuticals? Too much laughing gas,
too often?

[Ecumenist]

2. WHAT THE HEALL??!! PAPERCLIPS, REALLY??!!

[Snake Alchemist]

3. I'm sure they save the dentist a tidy sum in supply costs. nt

[irisblue]

4. dentist phobia

geez...geez..this aint gonna help

[obamanut2012]

8. OMG I know, right?

I already hate the dentist, and I've had root canals done.

I swear, all my molars just started aching.

[Hassin Bin Sober]

5. Paging Doctor MacGuyver!

[denbot]

6. Wow, just wow..

[IMG][/IMG]

[edbermac]

7. "Is it safe?"

I guess not!

[irisblue]

11. .."is it safe? " ya shoulda warned me!

no it wasn't.....that movie still gives me nightmares. 35 years later,

[whathehell]

17. Me too!...When I go to a new dentist, I always ask him "Did you ever see Marathon Man"? n/t

[Demeter]

27. Me three

I walked out during the waterboarding, ten minutes into the film. I'd read the book, but...

[jmowreader]

29. There's a dentist in Berlin who looks exactly like that guy

He used to work for the Berlin Command, taking care of American soldiers' teeth. Since there are no more American soldiers in Berlin, he doesn't do that anymore--who knows, maybe they moved the guy out to West Germany and kept him employed with the US Forces in Europe. And he was a good dentist.

The only problem was, he KNEW he looked like Sir Laurence Olivier. So you'd go in to get your teeth worked on, and the first thing this fucker would ask you was, "is it safe?"

(On edit: At least he wasn't as bad as the other guy, who was almost certainly in the Wehrmacht...you'd go to THAT fucking guy and the first thing he would say is, "I am going to cause you pain." Gee dude, all you're doing is LOOKING!)

[Codeine]

9. "Staples -- Yeah, we got that." nt

[VenusRising]

10. Unreal!

I think I just passed out for a minute.

I had a dentist start drilling a molar for a root canal, and then decided he may have to send the work out to another dentist because it was "at a weird angle". He finished the job, but screwed up my mouth in the process. My bite was off, my jaw shifted, as did some of my teeth, and now the crown is starting to break off in pieces. I have never had a good experience at the dentist, and stories like this do NOT help the phobia/anxiety I already have.

I hope he loses his license to practice.

[truedelphi]

15. Yikes. My heart felt sympathy for what you were put through.

Can you sue him? This sounds horrible.

[VenusRising]

20. I never looked into it.

It just seemed like another normal shitty trip to the dentist.

[Javaman]

12. Somewhere in the bowels of the Office Depot corporat office...

"Hmmm, dentistry."

[AlbertCat]

13. I'm irrationally nervous at my very good dentist because...

... My sister and I , when we were kids, our dentist would "punish" us by not numbing us all the way because my mother rebuffed his advances. Of course we didn't figure this out for a long time. My sister and I just thought it always hurt like hell. It wasn't until we went to another dentist and it didn't hurt, and we happened to mention it to my parents (my father was a surgeon, mother a nurse) that she figured it all out. (guess why she finally took us to another dentists... she got tired of being hit upon)

Be a dentist!

[Blue_Tires]

14. Steve Martin kicked ass in that movie!

lolz

[whathehell]

18. OMG!...Too bad she couldn't have sued him!.....A real "Dentist As Sadist". n/t

[BeliQueen]

16. Just found an excellent dentist in the Arlington, VA area.

If you're interested in a referral, PM me and I'll send you the information.

The office is spotless and modern; the supporting staff are warm and friendly; the dentists are professional and virtually pain-free.

I also know of a fantastic dentist in Pittsburgh, PA.

[onethatcares]

19. not to worry,

Orly Tait will take over his practice once she gets done in Georgia.

[Paka]

21. Get your dental work done in Thailand.

I'm in Chiang Mai and have the best dentist in my lifetime of 70+ years. And I can afford to pay for it without wiping out my life savings.

[Suich]

23. You know what's funny, Paka?

I could buy a round trip ticket to Thailand and get all my work done, and it would still be cheaper that what my dentist here wants to charge me!

[grantcart]

24. Hello

สวัสดี

คุณสามารถพูดภาษาภาคเหนือ?

[TheMadMonk]

22. A nasty piece of work, but excuse the fuck me. What price the real thing?

Why are medical appliances many times the price they'd command as an ordinary, domestically manufactured consumer good?

Why is dental often more expensive still?

[HipChick]

26. I paid 3K

[hedgehog]

28. Just an an antidote - today I went to a specialist to get

an abcess taken care of. He took another careful look at the area, then told me he was sending me on to an oral surgeon, that he was pretty sure the tooth was cracked and that i should save my money and just go directly to the oral surgeon!

So, there are good folks out there!

[Eugene]

30. Ex-Fall River dentist who used paper clips in dental work to serve 1 year behind bars

Source: Boston Globe

Ex-Fall River dentist who used paper clips in dental work to serve 1 year behind bars

01/30/2012 3:58 PM

By Alli Knothe and Colin A. Young, Globe Correspondents

Former Fall River dentist Michael J. Clair was sentenced today to two and a half years in the Bristol County House of Correction after he pleaded guilty to charges stemming from his use of paper clips rather than stainless steel posts during root canals, according to the attorney general.

Clair will serve one year of his sentence and will be put on probation for five years following his release. The balance of his prison sentence was suspended.

Clair, 53, of Maryland allegedly billed Medicaid for the cost of the stainless steel posts he was supposed to install into people’s mouths during root canal surgery, according to Attorney General Martha Coakley’s office. Instead of stainless steel clips, Clair used paper clips, prosecutors said.

[font size=1]-snip-[/font]

Read more: http://www.boston.com/Boston/metrodesk/2012/01/fall-river-dentist-who-used-paper-clips-dental-work-sentenced-year-behind-bars/8JbT51j2QPKZBT2klvwI4L/index.html