Crime

Nightmare? Dentist Used Paper Clips for Root Canals to Save a Few Bucks

Massachusetts Dentist Pleads Guilty to Using Paper Clips in Root Canal Procedures

(Image: Office Max)

It sounds like the scene from a bad dream: you‘re in the dentist’s chair for a scheduled root canal. Making matters worse, the dentist uses paper clips instead of sanitary, stainless steel posts in the procedure. Now the office supply you once saw as harmless is causing you pain and even leading to infection.

Unfortunately, this scenario was a real-life nightmare for some patients of a former Massachusetts dentist who has pleaded guilty to Medicaid fraud for using paper clips for just this purpose in an effort to save money.

Michael Clair is scheduled to be sentenced next Monday after pleading guilty last week in New Bedford Superior Court to a variety of charges, including defrauding Medicaid of $130,000 assault and battery, illegally prescribing prescription drugs and witness intimidation.

Watch the local Fox 25 News report with the reactions of local residents:

Mass. AG: Dentist used paper clips in root canals: MyFoxBOSTON.com

Prosecutors say the 53-year-old Clair was suspended by Medicaid in 2002, but continued to file claims from August 2003 to June 2005 by using the names of other dentists in his Fall River practice.

The Daily Mail reports that Clair’s license expired in 2008 and that it was revoked in Florida, West Virginia and Maryland.

Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley, according to the Fox 25 report, suggests those who were patients of Clair see a dentist as soon as possible. Marc Chase of South Shore Dental is reported as saying “I’m afraid of what we might find if we look at these patients,” suggesting that the paper clips are not the end of the story.

“I think this is a symptom of a very large problem,” Chase said.

 The Associated Press contributed to this report. 

Comments (37)

  • lukerw
    Posted on January 25, 2012 at 7:54am

    It’s an Obama Doctor and the reason for ObamaCare!

    Report Post » lukerw  
    • MYHEROISRON
      Posted on January 25, 2012 at 10:11pm

      Damn dentist’s think WAY too highly of themselves with the prices they charge … lousy bums …

      Report Post » MYHEROISRON  
    • Xyskalla
      Posted on January 26, 2012 at 10:11am

      They‘re just lucky Clair didn’t cut off his feet.

      Report Post »  
  • carbonyes
    Posted on January 25, 2012 at 7:51am

    What in the Hell is this doing on here?

    Report Post »  
  • Detroit paperboy
    Posted on January 25, 2012 at 7:25am

    Whats really scarey, is his brother is a proctologist… And he shops at Home Depot…… Yikes !

    Report Post »  
  • FreedomIsResponsability
    Posted on January 24, 2012 at 10:52pm

    i like how they say that the posts are sanitary by default and infer the paper clips aren’t. Anyone here know what an autoclave is? run a paper clip through an autoclave and it’s just as sterile as that post, maybe even more since many posts aren’t kept in sterile pouches but instead are in small plastic boxes. I’m curious what the paper clip was made of. If it was stainless steel, and the posts are stainless steel of the same grade, and both work for the expected time and purpose, is it, in fact, unethical? Because in reality many products sold by dental supply companies can be found in the exact same form elsewhere at much cheaper prices. Markup is incredible for dentists for no other reason than the fact that they’re dentists and people expect them to be able to pay it. Not excusing the fraud and other such charges, but i’m curious about the paper clip and the stigma it has. I mean, the first orthodontic elastics were made from elastic waist band from underpants, and they worked and gave us what we have today.

    Report Post »  
    • thepoopsmith
      Posted on January 25, 2012 at 1:35am

      for anyone who knows anything about dentistry (teeth) it doesn’t really matter what you put in there so long as you do a good job sealing it up

      Report Post » thepoopsmith  
  • BOMUSTGO
    Posted on January 24, 2012 at 10:02pm

    The Dentist was a McGyver fan.

    Report Post » BOMUSTGO  
  • BOMUSTGO
    Posted on January 24, 2012 at 10:00pm

    If you think health care is expensive now, wait until you see what
    it costs when it’s free!
    P.J. O’Rourke

    Report Post » BOMUSTGO  
  • Calm Voice of Reason
    Posted on January 24, 2012 at 9:36pm

    Government regulation makes this a crime. That is a large part of why even careless dentists try to avoid the practice. We should keep that regulation.

    Report Post » Calm Voice of Reason  
    • bellinghamgramma
      Posted on January 24, 2012 at 10:01pm

      Years ago my dentist TOLD me he was using a paper clip – lasted forever before I had it redone – I was paying for the treatment myself and definitely saved money. No problems I could report.

      Report Post »  
  • ForceOfOne
    Posted on January 24, 2012 at 9:34pm

    you think this is bad, imagine an American president using billions of tax payer-provided dollars to bail out crooked mortgage lenders and bankers, wall street fat cats and force an economy destroying healthcare bill down our throats…oh, wait…that DID happen. don’t lose sight of the REAL issue, folks!!!! hold our traitor-in-chief accountable in november!!!!!!!!

    Report Post »  
  • semihardrock
    Posted on January 24, 2012 at 9:07pm

    have them pulled…..way cheaper!

    eventually u need dentures anyway…

    Report Post » semihardrock  
    • Stoic one
      Posted on January 24, 2012 at 11:46pm

      And then go to a clinic after research… my dentures $800 wife’s $3000

      wife has had 3 teeth fail me no problems. and mine are three years older than hers.

      Report Post » Stoic one  
  • schroeder123
    Posted on January 24, 2012 at 9:01pm

    Yes..Obamamama care will solve all our problems….sept for dental…

    Report Post » schroeder123  
  • Kaoscontrol
    Posted on January 24, 2012 at 9:01pm

    I‘m not sure I would go to a dentist in the ’Harbor Mall”. Was his office by the ‘food court Giro place’ or the ‘Sunglass Hut’?

    Report Post » Kaoscontrol  
  • utterlyamazing
    Posted on January 24, 2012 at 8:47pm

    I disagree.. It’s going to be better with Obamacare!! Oh man I can’t even say this without a straight face!!

    Report Post »  
  • whatthecrazy
    Posted on January 24, 2012 at 8:40pm

    To me finding a good dentist is harder than finding a MD to trust.My experience with one dentist was truly horrific and i should have sued the satanic freak………………..

    Report Post »  
    • SgtB
      Posted on January 24, 2012 at 8:56pm

      I had a bad experience when I was a kid when a dentist pulled a tooth. Apparently he just numbed me up enough so that I couldn’t feel a single thing. When we left, my mom noticed blood running out of my mouth that I couldn’t even feel. However, I just had my wisdom teeth extracted and the guy who did that was great! You just gotta find someone who is still young enough to enjoy their work but has been doing it long enough to know how to dot their I‘s and cross their T’s.

      Report Post » SgtB  
    • whatthecrazy
      Posted on January 24, 2012 at 11:28pm

      SGTB thats my story exactly except the jaw tooth broke off and left the roots which were the problem to begin with .I had to go back two days later to have them surgically removed .I too have finally found a dentist that has,renewed my faith in dentists again,the experience was so painfull i can understand why evil people would use it for torture.

      Report Post »  
    • whatthecrazy
      Posted on January 24, 2012 at 11:30pm

      OH has anybody noticed that the pic on front story page looks excactly like GLENN is the dentist…………

      Report Post »  
  • Sumrknght
    Posted on January 24, 2012 at 8:31pm

    Note it was Medicaid fraud – most dentists can’t even afford to take on Medicaid patients. The ‘food stamp President’ is not only piling on food stamp ‘rewards’ but Medicaid as well. We’ve had doctors in our area quit to become truck drivers – they could earn more per year and have less stress (truck driving isn’t really a low stress job either).

    Obamacare will be a nightmare.

    Report Post »  
    • ConservativesLie
      Posted on January 24, 2012 at 8:43pm

      Medicaid fraud has occured for many many years before Obama! And Doctors are quitting to be truck drivers???? Liar!!!

      Report Post »  
    • Ducky 1
      Posted on January 24, 2012 at 11:28pm

      Medicaid will not pay for a root canal. If the tooth is bad they might pay for it to be pulled. Most dentists charge about $300 for a tooth to be pulled…..medicaid will pay them a max of $50. So you get put on a waiting list for about 1 year. Tooth THROBBING…..??? That is tough.

      Report Post » Ducky 1  
    • Do The Right Thing
      Posted on January 24, 2012 at 11:33pm

      I have a neighbor who is a Doctor, he paid $110 or so for the papers, from something called universalist church or somesuch, So I guess Drs are driving tow trucks, as well… But then, under obamacare, towtruck drivers will probably make many times what Surgeons and such, will…

      Report Post » Do The Right Thing  
  • GULFVETCELL13
    Posted on January 24, 2012 at 8:25pm

    What does obamacare look like? This is what obamacare looks like!

    Report Post » GULFVETCELL13  
    • ConservativesLie
      Posted on January 24, 2012 at 8:45pm

      Actually Obamacare will not help with dental care! And if it did it might actually help this kind of problem! Medicaid pays very very poorly….reimbursement will most likely be better with Obamacare! Also you are going to have horrible and unethical doctors with or without Obamacare!

      Report Post »  
  • jzs
    Posted on January 24, 2012 at 8:25pm

    Actually, I learned the hard way, Dentists in the 70′s used something like barbed wire paper clips to fill the hole left by a root canal (barbed so it wouldn’t move once put in). That was standard procedure. When I got a second infection decades later on the same tooth, the endodontist couldn’t get it out despite a valiant effort with state of the art equipment and I lost the tooth.

    Anyway, to my knowledge Blaze, dentists don’t use “stainless steel posts” anymore. They fill the hole with a polymer.

    Report Post » jzs  
    • badswing
      Posted on January 24, 2012 at 8:42pm

      first of all no one today uses stainless steel posts to fill a canal. gutta percha is used and is an orange color and a type of rubber. as far as your situation, the original dentist that left something in your tooth was a broach. broaches are used to remove the nerve in the canal. my guess is it broke in the canal and he couldnt remove it. it certainly wasnt “standard procedure” as you suggest. the barbs are used so they engage the nerve for extrication. after filing each canal with several size files (which are also broken by mistake and left in during poorly performed root canals) the canal is medicated and filled with gutta percha. after the root canal therapy is complete a post is sometimes made internally and a crown then covers the tooth for protection for now the tooth, minus its blood supply, becomes brittle. in all likelyhood you didnt have a secondary infection but never really got rid of your first one. wait for obamacare to kick in…

      Report Post » badswing  
    • Do The Right Thing
      Posted on January 24, 2012 at 11:43pm

      Please, JZS, go back to reading your good book. Those little barbs you’re writing about were files, to extricate the infected nerve material. They filled the empty nerve cavity with a rubbery toothpick looking thing, and when they had the hole filled, they burned off the excess and capped it off with a suitable substance, though in your case, they may have substituted the fill material with pure mercury…

      Report Post » Do The Right Thing  
  • LTinUT
    Posted on January 24, 2012 at 8:25pm

    Just wait until Obamacare. Those paper clips will come in handy for broken bones among other things.

    Report Post » LTinUT  
  • Darmok and Jalad at Tanagra
    Posted on January 24, 2012 at 8:14pm

    At least he wasn’t using White out for teeth whitening, or was he?

    Report Post » Darmok and Jalad at Tanagra  
  • Rayblue
    Posted on January 24, 2012 at 8:13pm

    Better than a poke in the eye.
    Or a rusty nail in the tooth.
    Or in the head like that one story.

    Report Post » Rayblue  

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