Today we went to the Federal Penitentiary to see our dental patients. Lots of concrete and barbed wire. Security to get in was minimal, we had our bags checked, went through a TSA style metal detector that was unplugged and a brief patdown.
It is located on the top of a hill with a 360 degree view of the Atlantic Ocean. Would have been a great location for a hotel. We were told it holds 900 inmates with only 12 women. We had a short day, getting set up around 9:30 and only working till 2:00 since we had to breakdown the clinic for its transport back to Sandals.
We saw around 15 patients, Gloria did cleanings on half, I pulled teeth on the other half. Pretty routine. All the inmates were cordial, some friendly, others, not so much. My assistant is a 21-year-old pre-dental college student. I recommended she take her name tag off and keep her mask on, no need to encourage a conversation. With a patient in the chair, if I left my operatory to check on Gloria in hers, a guard would step in.
The least cooperative but the most friendly was the one female inmate I saw. She needed a wisdom tooth out. Not the easiest in the mouth. She was a mess while I was giving her anesthetic grabbing my hand once and the syringe once. THAT'S not allowed. And I told her so. She was very nervous and crying. Once I got the tooth numbed and started to removed it, she, again raised her arm, but this time to grab my knee. That's OK. I got the tooth out, and she thanked me for my patience and shook my hand.......
During lunch, I needed to use the guard's bathroom. When I was ready to flush, nothing happened. I took the tank lid off and discovered the chain from the rubber flapper was disconnected from both the flapper and the arm attached to the lever. So, I emptied the tank removed the flapper and chain, and using a maxillary anterior forcep, refashioned the chain to fit both the flapper and lever, Yay, the toilet worked again. Figured it would be a lot easier than to call maintenance.
It is located on the top of a hill with a 360 degree view of the Atlantic Ocean. Would have been a great location for a hotel. We were told it holds 900 inmates with only 12 women. We had a short day, getting set up around 9:30 and only working till 2:00 since we had to breakdown the clinic for its transport back to Sandals.
We saw around 15 patients, Gloria did cleanings on half, I pulled teeth on the other half. Pretty routine. All the inmates were cordial, some friendly, others, not so much. My assistant is a 21-year-old pre-dental college student. I recommended she take her name tag off and keep her mask on, no need to encourage a conversation. With a patient in the chair, if I left my operatory to check on Gloria in hers, a guard would step in.
The least cooperative but the most friendly was the one female inmate I saw. She needed a wisdom tooth out. Not the easiest in the mouth. She was a mess while I was giving her anesthetic grabbing my hand once and the syringe once. THAT'S not allowed. And I told her so. She was very nervous and crying. Once I got the tooth numbed and started to removed it, she, again raised her arm, but this time to grab my knee. That's OK. I got the tooth out, and she thanked me for my patience and shook my hand.......
 |
| This is Coco, our sterile tech. I think that is a nickname. The hair on his head is in four cocoa puffs. A great guy. |
During lunch, I needed to use the guard's bathroom. When I was ready to flush, nothing happened. I took the tank lid off and discovered the chain from the rubber flapper was disconnected from both the flapper and the arm attached to the lever. So, I emptied the tank removed the flapper and chain, and using a maxillary anterior forcep, refashioned the chain to fit both the flapper and lever, Yay, the toilet worked again. Figured it would be a lot easier than to call maintenance.
No comments:
Post a Comment