LANSING — The Michigan Department of Corrections is promising improved prisoner dental care under a proposed settlement of a nine-year-old class-action lawsuit.
The settlement, made public in a Thursday filing in federal court, could impact all of the state’s more than 32,000 prisoners, plus thousands more who will be sent to prison in the future.
It’s aimed at improving detection and treatment of periodontal disease — a gum infection that can result in bleeding, pain, and loosened teeth.
Under the previous policy, the department didn’t use dental probes to check prisoners for periodontal disease upon intake, according to documents filed in the case. Incoming prisoners were just given a visual examination, along with one panoramic X-ray of their teeth.
The use of dental probes is “just a basic medical dental need … for saving and/or keeping healthy teeth,” said Tracie Gittleman, a Farmington Hills attorney who represented the prisoners along with the MSU Law Clinics.
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“They were just eyeballing it,” Gittleman said of the MDOC, resulting in the unnecessary loss of teeth for many prisoners. Periodontal disease, which will progress even with daily brushing and flossing, “is very easy to diagnose, but you can’t eyeball it.”
The proposed settlement calls for:
- A periodontal examination, with probing and recording of relevant measurements, upon admission to the state prison system. Prisoners found to have periodontal disease can be referred for treatment based on how advanced their condition is.
- Routine dental services, which include an annual cleaning, after one year in prison. Currently, eligibility for routine dental care and an annual cleaning doesn’t begin for at least two years and often takes longer than that, according to filings in the case.
- Payment of $600,000 in attorney fees by the MDOC.
- Regular reporting by the MDOC to the plaintiffs’ attorneys for two years, so the attorneys can determine whether the terms of the settlement are being met.
- Posting of notices of the proposed settlement in state prisons. If prisoners object to the settlement terms, a fairness hearing could be held before U.S. District Judge Laurie Michelson.
The MDOC is “pleased that this settlement will allow us to continue providing quality dental services within our facilities,” spokesman Kyle Kaminski said Friday.
The department has already begun implementing the settlement and plans to use existing staff to complete that process while exploring options for additional funding in the future, Kaminski said.
Gittleman said the new requirements are similar to those in the federal prison system and in many larger states.
Contact Paul Egan: 517-372-8660 or pegan@freepress.com. Follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, @paulegan4.
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