The Cyst - Part 2
The one thing you hear from a lot of people when you're going to prison is "at least you'll be able to get your teeth fixed." For whatever reason, there is a belief among the general public that inmates get all kind of free dental care - walking in with a mouth full of bad teeth and walking out with a new set. Maybe that was true at one time in the distant past, but believe me, nothing could be further from the truth these days.
One of the first thing you're advised to do when you get to prison is get your name on the dental waiting list. Actually, on both lists, one for cleaning and one for dental repairs. The wait on those lists can be a year long or more, depending on where you are doing your time. The problem is that due to budget cuts, the dentists only spend one day a week at any given facility, and the hygienist probably spends one day a week there as well. That means only 6 hours of dentist visits a week, by a dentist who probably submitted the lowest bid in order to win the contract. And most of those hours are taken up with "emergency" visits, taking care of inmates who have sat outside the dentist's office all day waiting to be triaged. If your problem isn't immediate - a cracked tooth, abscess, or severe pain, you don't get seen until your turn comes up on the list.
Even if you are lucky enough to get in and see the dentist, the level of care you get is random. I had a few filling put in while I was a guest of the government - only one has yet to fall out. And forget about getting a crown; if you have a bad tooth, all they will do is pull it out. So generally you're going to leave prison with less teeth in your mouth. Even the simple act of pulling a tooth can become a nightmare.
I had two teeth that needed to be pulled, both because they had cracked and rotted completely. The first one was a few months after I started my sentence. It was pulled without a problem, although I had to take some antibiotics for a week first to clean up a minor infection. The second tooth, however, was not so simple. This was near the end of my sentence. I'd tried three weeks in a row to get in as an emergency patient, but all three times the dentist failed to even show up. Finally, after a month of trying, and what felt like an eternity waiting in line, I made my way into the dentist chair. He agreed that the tooth needed to be pulled, and told me to wait in line again with the other approved patients until my turn came up. Two hours later, I was back in the chair. That's when the fun started. After a few shots of Novocaine, the dentist climbed up on my chest and started grunting while he attempted to dislodge the tooth. He pulled, tugged, groaned, moaned, shifted...and finally the tooth came out. Or so I thought...instead, he had only managed to pull off the crown of the tooth. The root was still intact, poking slightly out of my now profusely-bleeding gum.
I didn't think this would pose such a problem, but now it seemed to me I was left in worse shape then when I started. Instead of a rotting tooth, I had an exposed (and soon to be painful) root. Imagine my unhappiness when the dentist announced to me that to remove the tooth he would have to cut my gum. Surprise, surprise, he wasn't allowed to do that! Something to do with his contract. I would have to wait to see the oral surgeon. Unfortunately, the oral surgeon was not scheduled to return to the facility for six weeks, and I was supposed to be released in four! To make a long story short, I've still got that exposed root in my mouth...although I plan on going to the dentist in the next month or two so I can have all of my dental issues prioritized and eventually treated.
So when somebody tells you the plan on getting their teeth fixed in prison, you should probably tell them to plan on eating soft food for the rest of their life. That is, if they are lucky enough not to get seriously ill while in prison...or blessed to recover if something serious does go wrong.
As for me, aside from these dental issues, I was pretty lucky when it came to staying healthy in prison. That is, until I woke up one morning with an itchy bump on my right wrist.
(to be continued - watch for Part 3 in the next few days)
One of the first thing you're advised to do when you get to prison is get your name on the dental waiting list. Actually, on both lists, one for cleaning and one for dental repairs. The wait on those lists can be a year long or more, depending on where you are doing your time. The problem is that due to budget cuts, the dentists only spend one day a week at any given facility, and the hygienist probably spends one day a week there as well. That means only 6 hours of dentist visits a week, by a dentist who probably submitted the lowest bid in order to win the contract. And most of those hours are taken up with "emergency" visits, taking care of inmates who have sat outside the dentist's office all day waiting to be triaged. If your problem isn't immediate - a cracked tooth, abscess, or severe pain, you don't get seen until your turn comes up on the list.
Even if you are lucky enough to get in and see the dentist, the level of care you get is random. I had a few filling put in while I was a guest of the government - only one has yet to fall out. And forget about getting a crown; if you have a bad tooth, all they will do is pull it out. So generally you're going to leave prison with less teeth in your mouth. Even the simple act of pulling a tooth can become a nightmare.
I had two teeth that needed to be pulled, both because they had cracked and rotted completely. The first one was a few months after I started my sentence. It was pulled without a problem, although I had to take some antibiotics for a week first to clean up a minor infection. The second tooth, however, was not so simple. This was near the end of my sentence. I'd tried three weeks in a row to get in as an emergency patient, but all three times the dentist failed to even show up. Finally, after a month of trying, and what felt like an eternity waiting in line, I made my way into the dentist chair. He agreed that the tooth needed to be pulled, and told me to wait in line again with the other approved patients until my turn came up. Two hours later, I was back in the chair. That's when the fun started. After a few shots of Novocaine, the dentist climbed up on my chest and started grunting while he attempted to dislodge the tooth. He pulled, tugged, groaned, moaned, shifted...and finally the tooth came out. Or so I thought...instead, he had only managed to pull off the crown of the tooth. The root was still intact, poking slightly out of my now profusely-bleeding gum.
I didn't think this would pose such a problem, but now it seemed to me I was left in worse shape then when I started. Instead of a rotting tooth, I had an exposed (and soon to be painful) root. Imagine my unhappiness when the dentist announced to me that to remove the tooth he would have to cut my gum. Surprise, surprise, he wasn't allowed to do that! Something to do with his contract. I would have to wait to see the oral surgeon. Unfortunately, the oral surgeon was not scheduled to return to the facility for six weeks, and I was supposed to be released in four! To make a long story short, I've still got that exposed root in my mouth...although I plan on going to the dentist in the next month or two so I can have all of my dental issues prioritized and eventually treated.
So when somebody tells you the plan on getting their teeth fixed in prison, you should probably tell them to plan on eating soft food for the rest of their life. That is, if they are lucky enough not to get seriously ill while in prison...or blessed to recover if something serious does go wrong.
As for me, aside from these dental issues, I was pretty lucky when it came to staying healthy in prison. That is, until I woke up one morning with an itchy bump on my right wrist.
(to be continued - watch for Part 3 in the next few days)
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