BOP Program Statement 6400.03 § 11

The Bureau of Prisons defines four priority levels based on acuity that determine the imminence

of treatment for inmates. The following categories discuss the priority of dental care, which may

change when and by whom dental procedures may be performed.

a. Emergency Dental Care. Dental/orofacial conditions that are of an immediate, acute, or

grave nature and which, without care, would cause rapid deterioration of the inmate’s health,

significant irreversible loss of function, or may be life-threatening.

b. Urgent Dental Care. Care for dental conditions that are not imminently life-threatening.

This includes the management of acute oral disease, ordinarily referred to as sick call care:

■ Serious deterioration that may lead to premature death.

■ Significant reduction in the possibility of repair later without present treatment.

■ Si nificant pain or discomfort that impairs the inmate’s participation in daily activities.

c. Non-urgent Dental Care. Care for dental conditions that will generally improve the

inmate’s ualit of life. This includes the management of chronic oral disease, ordinarily

referred to as comprehensive dental care.

d. Limited Value Dental Care. Care for dental conditions that resolve on their own, treatment

that provides little or no clinical value, is expressl for the inmate’s convenience, or is beyond

the scope of a public health setting. Procedures in this category are usually in the Advanced

Dental Treatment section.