A disbarred dentist has pleaded guilty to assault, fraud, intimidation and other criminal charges for using paper clips in place of the requisite stainless steel posts in several of his patients' root canals. It is not yet known whether any of the dentist's former patients have filed or plan to file file medical malpractice lawsuits against him for the harmful side effects they suffered as a result of his use of paper clips in their root canals.

The dentist told court officials that he used the paper clips in an effort to save money. In 2002, after several of his patients reported infections that they had contracted following their root canal procedures, the dentist was suspended by Medicaid. However, he continued to file for Medicaid reimbursements totaling approximately $130,000 by using the names of the other dentists in his practice.

In 2006, the state dental board suspended the dentist's license to practice dentistry. He is not currently allowed to practice dentistry in Missouri or in any other state in the U.S.

According to a professor of endodontics quoted in a Huffington Post article about the dentist, there are "very limited circumstances" in which a paper clip should be usedin a dental procedure, and a paper clip should never be left in a patient's mouth permanently.

"Paper clips do not satisfy the requirement for [stainless steel] posts," the professor said, "not only because they aren't made of stainless steel but because their shape and consistency will not allow them to be functionally acceptable to use."

Source: The Huffington Post, "Michael Clair, Former Dentist, Accused Of Paper Clip Use In Root Canals," Jan. 24, 2012