Dentist who pulled teeth while riding hoverboard is grounded
Unconventional extraction concerned only one of the 46 charges for which Dr Seth Lookhart was convicted in Alaska
Unconventional extraction concerned only one of the 46 charges for which Dr Seth Lookhart was convicted in Alaska
Those who feel a little queasy going to the dentist will have further cause for concern, after a practitioner was convicted for extracting teeth on a sedated patient while on a hoverboard.
Dr Seth Lookhart had sent a film of himself performing the extraction on a sedated patient to several people, setting off a wider investigation into his practices.
On Friday, the Alaskan dentist was convicted on 46 counts, including medical assistance fraud and reckless endangerment.
The patient, Veronica Wilhelm, said she had not consented to being filmed while sedated,
The patient, Veronica Wilhelm, said she had not consented to being filmed while sedated,
nor having her tooth extracted while Lookhart was on the hoverboard. She called his behavior “outrageous” and “narcissistic”.Records from Lookhart’s phone show him joking in at least one conversation that the hoverboard surgery constituted a “new standard of care”.
Outside of his reckless dentistry, the doctor was also pushing Medicaid patients to take expensive sedation not normally covered by their $1,150 annual limit for non-emergency procedures.
Private insurance generally does not cover the sedation, so Dr Lookhart offered clients the option of paying a $450 flat fee, while he billed Medicaid as much as $2,049 for the same service.
