County Inmates To Get Emergency Dental Care Commissioners Put Up $40,000 To Comply With Judge’s Ruling

Inmates at the Spokane County Jail can count on better dental care soon.

But don’t expect county commissioners to flash their pearly whites over the situation.

“Let their teeth fall out as far as I’m concerned,” said Commissioner Phil Harris.

Commissioners on Tuesday reluctantly agreed to spend $40,000 for a dentist chair and other equipment needed to provide emergency dental care at the jail. The money will be matched by Geiger Correctional Center, which will bring federal inmates to the jail for dental work.

The two jails will hire a dentist to make house calls when needed.

A federal judge ordered the service last year, after two inmates complained they weren’t getting the dental care they needed.

The judge said it wasn’t good enough for a doctor to check the mouths of inmates who complain of toothaches. Guards take the inmates to dentists if the doctor says they’re in bad enough shape.

The system is much the same at Geiger, said center administrator Bob Thurston.

“We have to escort them (to the dentist). We have to sit there and wait for it to be done,” said Thurston. “Once this is arranged we’ll be able to just drop them off at the jail.”

Thurston and his counterpart at the county jail, Lt. Edee Hunt, predict the new system will bring big savings by cutting the staff time needed to shuttle inmates to their appointments.

Just the thought of spending money to give inmates better smiles grates on Harris and Commissioner Steve Hasson, who noted that Kootenai County saves money by giving its inmates baking powder rather than toothpaste.

“And here, we have to provide a dentist,” he said. “Pretty soon, we’re going to have people vying to be in our jails.”