Group fights to get Saint John inmate help for broken tooth
A group that works with inmates at the Saint John Correctional Centre is trying to help a man who claims he's being denied dental care.
Matthew Hudson told CBC earlier this month he's been in constant pain since his molar fractured four months ago, and has even tried to extract the tooth himself.
But he said jail officials have told him that his painful tooth isn't an emergency.
Now, Diane Kerns of AIDS Saint John, which often works with inmates at the jail, says she's trying to get answers, but is growing frustrated by the lack of response from corrections officials.
"It's just very difficult when there's no response to understand, well what can we do," she said.
She said she's been in communication with Hudson since CBC first reported about his fight to get dental care.
Kerns said Hudson has told her that jail officials have since told him that he's on a waitlist for dental care, but no one has been able to give them any details on how long that waitlist is.
CBC hasn't been able to verify Hudson's claim in person.
Bad tooth should be an emergency
Given how much pain Hudson says he's in, Kerns says she doesn't understand why his bad tooth isn't considered an emergency.
"When pain is involved, my personal experience would be, I need to see the dentist today or tomorrow," she said.
"And with this fellow, it's already been weeks."
She said she and Hudson are now trying to find out if he would be allowed to pay for his own dental care, if he could come up with the funds.
But so far, Kerns said the inmate was told he'd have to have enough funds in his account to pay for the procedure before he could even make the request.
The New Brunswick Department of Public Safety says it won't comment on individual cases.
It also has not responded to a request for a copy of the department's policy on dental care for offenders in provincial custody.
A fractured tooth left untreated will become infected, according to two New Brunswick dentists CBC spoke with earlier this month.
