Girl dies after getting dental treatment

[proud2BlibKansan]

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.

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

[Viva_La_Revolution]

1. nitrous AND and IV??!!

is that normal?

[vanboggie]

2. I've had both

Of course I'm a super chicken when it comes to dental work. That was oral surgery though and with no oral sedative at the same time.

[Individualist]

25. So have I,

also for oral surgery.

[proud2BlibKansan]

3. I don't know

This is just s sad.

[Horse with no Name]

5. Maybe I am stupid

but nobody should allow a 5-year old to have that type of anesthesia unless they are in a hospital under the care of an anesthesiologist and backed up by a team of trained professionals.
Sounds to me like they knocked out her respiratory system. It isn't hard to do in a little one. Chances are she was given to much anesthesia and it backfired.

[Viva_La_Revolution]

7. I don't think you're stupid...

as a matter of fact, I think you're correct (and brilliant) :)

[Horse with no Name]

8. And a nurse who has seen more than one kid

die from getting their tonsils out.
It's the little things that people don't think will happen.:(

[proud2BlibKansan]

12. I know of kids whose teeth are in such bad shape

they have to have their dental work done under anesthesia at a hospital. Sounds like that may have been a better alternative for this little girl.

[Jawja]

24. Believe me, mine

were in TERRIBLE shape and I had a lot of work done as a small child and I never had more than a shot or two of novacaine and I got through it. I did not have the alternative of dental work at the hospital.

[proud2BlibKansan]

26. I had lots of dental work too

but the decay we are seeing on kids' teeth today is far worse than anything I remember as a child or from my own kids (who are now grown). I don't know if more parents are putting babies to bed with bottles in their mouths or giving them more sugar or what. But kids have some pretty serious dental problems. It also doesn't help that so many don't get dental care until their teeth are in pretty bad shape.

[NewYorkerfromMass]

20. You are correct. This is why anesthesiologists get the big bucks

Anesthesiologists are paid very well, and they earn it.
Horrific mismanagement of the drugs here.
God bless her little soul.

[Tellurian]

9. I dunno..

The dentist was either drunk or on drugs and lost track of what he was doing..
Very sad..I can't imagine it happening to someone close to me..

[gkdmaths]

10. Sure,

When I had my wisdom teeth out I had both, but I became lucid in the middle of the procedure. Nitrous is a quick down and quick recovery - nothing big.

They just gave her an overdose - probably due to a math error by a tired assistant. Ive made the mistake a couple of times after a long week - only on rats, though.

[drbtg1]

22. warning - dentist posting

(Don't worry, no way am I gonna play defense.)

I've seen patients get nitrous and IV sedation. I've been an assistant in these cases. That's not the part that disturbs me. This, however, disturbs me:

1.) The patient had IV sedation AND "an oral agent". Admittedly, I don't know the particulars, but that seems to me to be excessive. Of course, all three on a five year old, well, you all know....

2.) Having fillings AND "caps" (we call them crowns) is a lot of work under ordinary circumstances. On top of that, the article appears to say the lone dentist was also administering the anesthesia, or at least does not indicate there was an oral surgeon or anesthesiologist handling that task. NEVER, NEVER, NEVER have I been part of that.

At my practice, I don't do general anesthesia, I don't do IV sedation, I don't do "oral agents". Heck, I don't even do nitrous. And I have a few thousand patients of all ages that are very happy with me, thus I've felt no need to change that. I just need to have enough compassion for whatever level is required for a particular patient and we get along just fine. Obviously kids need a quite a bit more. Often it involves explaining things but not talking down to them, allowing parents in the operatory but ensuring I can communicate, not using words like "needle" and "shot" which have a pre-conceived notion, trying to ensure kids haven't been terrorized by a sibling or a classmate or even a well-meaning relative, and, possibly most importantly, not doing too much at one time. I can see that last part not sitting well with other folks, as other dentists (as well as other members of society) will try to do too much on the cheap.

I've learned long ago that treating kids is a lot like a waitress serving tea at a restaurant; it's a lot more work for very little payment but it has to be that way. Consequently, it's been many years since I've needed to refer a kid to a pedodontist. I've accepted that's just the way the system is. It allows me to sleep at night.

[knitter4democracy]

4. My son had more serious work than that and only had nitrous.

He's four, and he needed major work this summer. I sat there and held his hand through the whole thing (the second time--Hubby held it the first visit, since I was ill). I would never leave, but then again, I'm a b****y doctor's wife and more than a little protective when it comes to medical stuff.

What was that dentist thinking?

[Nikki Stone 1]

6. Sounds like the dentist wasn't thinking

A friend of mine went through a horrible situation with a dentist a couple of years ago. Some routine work was done in a slipshod manner and my friend ended up with a very painful infection.

[proud2BlibKansan]

11. A lot of kids this age have very serious dental problems

and have never been to a dentist. Maybe her teeth were in really bad shape?

It still sounds like the dentist over medicated her. What a tragedy.

[GreenPartyVoter]

13. Anasthesia is tough on little kids. This is why I dread mine ever having

operations, because sometimes they never wake up.

[Avalux]

14. My god - over anesthetized.

She was having 2 cavities filled - that's it. Are some dentists willing to go this far to keep dental work pain free? A five year old never should have had that much - never.

[proud2BlibKansan]

15. no, not just 2 cavities

The girl was having two cavities filled and caps placed on her lower front teeth.

[dogday]

16. Why put caps on a five year olds teeth?

5 years old is the perfect age when kids are losing their baby teeth... This seems to be a great deal of work for a 5 year old...

[proud2BlibKansan]

18. Decay goes all the way to the roots

and infects the permanent teeth too. Lots more small kids are getting caps for this reason.

When you have no dental care (and many low income kids don't) your teeth decay at an amazing rate.

All the more reason we need national health care in this country.

[Avalux]

17. Oops - sorry, missed the caps.

But then I have to ask - why caps at 5? :shrug:

[proud2BlibKansan]

19. I just posted a response

The permanent teeth will decay before they come in.

[Avalux]

21. Thanks for the response.

Since you know more about this than me - the caps are being put on to prevent decay - right? Won't preventative care like brushing and flossing keep decay from occurring?

[proud2BlibKansan]

23. LOL I am not a dentist

I am a teacher and my school has a dental clinic. So what I know is just from the experiences I have had working with young kids. The vast majority of our kids come to school as kindergarteners and they have never had dental care. So many have some very serious teeth problems. We have had quite a few who needed out patient surgery at a hospital to have their teeth repaired. That is probably what this little girl needed.

It takes more than just good preventive care to prevent decay. First of all, kids need to be taught how to brush and floss. Not all parents take the time to do this. They also need flouride treatments, which go a long way toward preventing decay.