Dentist Offered Unusual 'Standard of Care': Investigators

Alaska's Seth Lookhart allegedly pulled patient's tooth while riding hoverboard
By Jenn Gidman,  Newser Staff
Posted Apr 25, 2017 9:31 AM CDT
'Unlawful Dental Acts': Pulling Tooth While on Hoverboard
Not usually considered best practices in the dental industry.   (AP Photo/Stephen Brashear, File)

What falls under the category of "unlawful dental acts" in the state of Alaska? Pulling a sedated patient's tooth while on a hoverboard, per an investigation that involved the FBI, DEA, and a couple of state departments, the Alaska Dispatch News reports. Clear Creek Dental's Dr. Seth Lookhart—Alaska's "most xtreme dentist," per Gizmodo—told investigators business had been lagging, which may explain why he's been charged with Medicaid fraud, allegedly billing almost $2 million for what appears to be unnecessary sedation for his patients.

But it's not clear what caused him to pull the tooth of one of those sedated patients while riding a hoverboard, videotaping it, then circulating it to people he apparently thought would enjoy seeing what he joked was a "new standard of care." The patient told the authorities she had no clue what had transpired while she was under. Lookhart's office manager, Shauna Cranford, was also hit with charges, including pulling two teeth herself and filming it without patient knowledge because "[Lookhart] let me do it," she allegedly texted another employee. (Yet fear isn't the main thing that keeps people from going to the dentist.)

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