Girl dies after getting dental treatment

[Jcrowley]

Girl dies after getting dental treatment

2 hours, 30 minutes ago

CHICAGO - A 5-year-old Chicago girl who never awoke from her sedation during a visit to the dentist died Wednesday at Children's Memorial Hospital, a hospital official said.

Kindergartner Diamond Brownridge had been in a coma and on life support since the weekend dentist visit, said Julie Pesch, a spokeswoman for Children's Memorial Hospital.

Family members have said Diamond received a triple dose of sedatives — an oral agent, an intravenous drug and nitrous oxide gas — during Saturday's exam at Little Angel Dental. The girl was having two cavities filled and caps placed on her lower front teeth.

The girl's mother, Ommettress Travis, has said she was asked to leave the room during the half-hour procedure. When she returned, her daughter was lying in the dental chair, not breathing, Travis said.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060927/ap_on_re_us/dentist_coma

[babylonsister]

1. Caps on a 5-yr old, at "Little Angel"? No words... nt

[dflprincess]

7. Unfortunately, caps are sometimes necessary on a very young child

and not for cosmetic reasons. One of the kids on my nephew's baseball team has a 5 year old sister that needed this done. Her baby teeth were just didn't form correctly and were in terrible shape. She needed the caps so she could eat. Knowing the parents, this wasn't from letting the kid go crazy with sugar. Her older brother (about 10 at the time) had no cavaties and the family did see their dentist regularily.

[babylonsister]

22. To me, caps protect existing teeth/roots, not baby teeth.

I remember when I was 9, many moons ago, when a dentist suggested that I needed root canal. My dad thought he was out of his mind, and was proved correct.
I also remember a 'dentist' who gave us a 'see-ya-later' gift of Bazooka bubblegum!:crazy:

[laundry_queen]

23. Caps are often necessary on baby teeth.

Without the caps, the teeth would rot down to the root and cause problems like abscesses. Just because they are baby teeth, doesn't mean if they have decay they don't need protection of some kind. Often the enamel on baby teeth is extra thin and once it has a slight breach, decay is swift, within weeks even (I speak from experience as a parent).

There are many reasons also for decay of baby teeth, and many people who equate baby tooth decay with neglect are woefully misinformed. It can be from something as simple as living somewhere with no fluoridated water, from a slightly chipped tooth, or some children are just born with less enamel. More and more studies are now showing children with decay often have more of a particular type of bacteria in their mouths, that persists despite brushing well.
I just want to reiterate, tooth decay in baby teeth is NOT normally a sign of neglect or of bad nutrition.
As for the poor girl and her parents, well, I'd never let my child be IV sedated in a dentist office, my children, who have been quite young when they needed work, always booked in to the hospital, where our dentist had privileges. A very sad lesson for that family indeed.

[DesertRat]

20. I teach very poor 4&5 year olds and many of them have caps

Most have had very poor nutrition and no dental hygiene which results in rotting teeth even at this early age. I had one who needed *3* caps and needed to be sedated for the work. It's not uncommon in children living below the poverty line. :cry:

[MadMaddie]

2. Triple dose of sedatives....

it seems that they over medicated this child...

[havocmom]

6. and had mom leave the room? WTF?

I hope the examined the girl's body very throughly. Sounds mighty damned questionable - triple meds, mom out of the room for caps on a 5 year old?

[MadMaddie]

8. Agreed....and isn't it a normal practice of an anestiologist...

to monitor the patient...why was she left alone and not monitored?

[Xithras]

12. Only when anesthetics are being applied.

Once the anesthetics are no longer being applied, the anesthesiologist usually stops monitoring the patient on a constant basis, because the danger period has typically passed. They'll check in every few minutes to make sure you're coming out of it properly, but that's about it.

[lonestarnot]

3. OMG tragic. eom

[Sanity Claws]

4. Tragedy but caps on a 5-year old?

She must just have her baby teeth. So what if they're a little off or crooked?

[Massacure]

5. Thats insane.

When I had my only cavity filled I was numbed with a medicated Q-tip type thing followed by a shot. The medicated Q-tip medicated it just long enough so I wouldn't feel the shot. Why put gas and an IV on top of that?

[Xithras]

10. Sometimes it has to be done.

When my son was seven he developed a cavity that needed to be repaired. Even though he'd never had a problem with the dentist before, he absolutely freaked out when the dentist came at him with the needle for the numbing agent. He actually kicked the dentist in the face while he was fighting to get away. The dentist (once he regained his composure) then tried to give him gas to calm him down. My son took the gas, but still fought when the needle came out again. In the end, he got an IV in the arm, took a nice nap, and woke up with a new filling.

[MiaCulpa]

9. This happens far more frequently than you know

to give anesthesia, make sure your dentist has received the training to administer, and *ASK* what the emergency protocol is in the office! Do they have a crash cart and personnel certified in life support? If not, go somewhere else. When you ask, they should be more than happy to tell -- and even show you -- their emergency equiptment. Anyone can have a reaction to any form of anesthesia. Be safe, not sorry.

[woodsprite]

11. I refused to take my 5yo daughter to any dentist

who would not let me be back in the exam room with her. There were PLENTY that said it was policy that I could not be back there with her and several that said they actually strap the kids to a papoose board and put them in "twilight" sedation to do a regular exam and cleaning.

I took her to the dentist my hubby and I went to who had a decent reputation with kids, UNTIL he was doing something to her and she started to cry. I was right there with her holding her hand, but she was scared of all the equipment and afraid it was going to hurt. He actually held his hand over her mouth to try to get her to stop crying, with me sitting right there! He didn't let up until I physically took my daughter out of the chair and said "That's enough". I was LIVID! I explained to my daughter (more for the staff & doc to hear than anything) that I would not let her be treated like that. Docs forget they work for the patient and the best way you can deal with those kind is to hit them in the pocketbook and take your business elsewhere.

I *DID* feel that she needed the work, so I made an appointment with a dentist I had as a child (actually, the guy's son) and explained exactly, in no uncertain terms, what happened. They were really surprised since the bad doc had interned with them. They have been great about everything. She even had to have the two damaged teeth pulled and they did it just with a local and I was right there with her.

I cannot, for the life of me, understand why my hubby still goes to that jerk. He lost 3 patients business that day. I just wish it had been 4.

[Jcrowley]

13. Good on ya'

for being there and not letting the expert tell you you couldn't be with your child. As a father of a five year old this story really disturbs me. The way much, not all, of the medical establishment domineers over children must be challenged.

[bleedingheart]

16. back in the "good ole days"...my dentist didn't use any numbing agent

nope...he was a pure sadist and my mother thought it was normal.

Yep..I recall the times he filled cavities with no numbing agent at all...Oh he was a gem and the only reason our family stopped going to him was that he retired...he was quite old..

To this day I run into people my age who experienced his special "dentistry"....and the funniest story I ever heard was of how my one friend's brother went to his office and he wasn't there...(it was an emergency)...but his ancient father (also a dentist) was there...my friend said the contraption he wore to be able to see was a wonder to behold....her brother whiteknuckled it through that visit...

[CornField]

19. Exactly

This is why no "policy" ever keeps me from staying with my children during any type of medical procedures. Ultimately, I'm the person who is responsible for their welfare and I take that charge very seriously.

[bleedingheart]

14. There are risks with any sedation...

I suspect an allergic reaction.

I feel sad for the family of the girl and from the article the guy who administered the sedation was really freaked out...no one wants a patient to die....

[Sal Minella]

17. Yes, the first child of a friend of mine died in the dentist's chair from

an allergic reaction to the shot they used. Neither parent had ever had a problem, so where this came from they don't know.

[Porcupine]

15. My oldest daughter had caps put on her teeth when she was 3

but they called in a pediatric anastheseologist to help with the procedure. Some childrens first teeth come in very soft. My daughter was raised on a largely vegetarian, no-sugar diet but some of her teeth just rotted away very early.

Dental work is serious stuff. Little things like whether the faucet in the dentist's sink leaks can cause big problems. Once I was at a dentists and noticed that the sink had a very slow leak, a drop every minute or two that was allowing a biofilm to grow on the end of the spout. When I called this to the dentists attention he somehow managed to get a repairman there before the end of the visit.

Any surface in a medical office can be a trasmission vector for staph or other infections. Keeping clean is a serious business.

So sad about this kid.

[humbled_opinion]

18. Ok I get the Nitrous and the Novacaine but why IV?

Never heard of general for filling and caps...

[Divine Discontent]

21. I had IV for wisdom

boy was I out of it and nauseous for a couple hours. my sibling is HORRIFIED to be put out with IV, and frankly, who likes the thought of it??? isn't there some type of blood pressure/heart monitor on people ???