Hawaii 3-year-old dies after dental procedures

Taissa

passit
reply to post by Lucid Lunacy

 

Thanks for all the evidence. I guess I'll have to brig this up with our dentist and see what they say. Still, there is something that is causing children to have multiple cavities before the age of 5. There are pediatric dental centres here who are so busy the wait is often many months to get an appointment. And it's not like they are fooling with us, I can see the cavities myself in her mouth.

My husband works at a grocery store, and tell me about all the parents who come through buying liters of soda or cases of mountain dew, or big things of Sunny D, Tampico, or Hawaiian Punch. I'm going to take a stab and say that children have rotting teeth is, on the bottle or pacifier too long, or one of the above. Not all, but some.

edit on 8-1-2014 by Taissa because: (no reason given)

Very common in Hawaii, Appalachia, and other regions around the US. You see a baby or toddler with a bottle full of soda and horrible, horrible teeth.

If the article is true: no monitors, anesthetic agents above the certification level of a dentist, and no people trained in pediatric resuscitation, the dentist is going to lose big time.

It is not unusual to do a large amount of work in a single case of pediatric dentistry because then you expose the child to the risk of a single anesthetic, rather than putting them under multiple times. Ten cavities and root canals under molars are not unusual in that even a bad cavity in a baby tooth can cause a lot of pain and multiple extractions can cause problems with permanent teeth later on. The jaw is growing as the new teeth come in and you need the baby teeth as intact as possible to let the jaw grow and maintain the proper shape for the adult teeth. That the dentist was doing those things is not a violation of standard of care nor is it unusual nor it is evidence of "money grubbing."

However, doing that extensive amount of work with general anesthesia on a child that young outside of a hospital, in an office setting, without a pediatric anesthesiologist was foolish, irresponsible, and beyond the pale.

reply to post by NavyDoc


yeah i did a poor job on the op

Fried said examination by another dentist later determined that most of the dental work was unnecessary.

The suit charges the dentist used a combination of three drugs, all central nervous system depressants, and that the combination enhanced the strength of each without appropriate adjustments in dosage.

Fried said an excessive dose of at least one of the drugs was administered. He said medical records indicate that after respiratory and oxygen levels in the child were measured early in the procedure, no further measurements were taken for more than 26 minutes.

"There was no adequate monitoring of the child's respirations and oxygen levels during the procedure,'' Fried said.

from the article in op

Indigent
reply to post by NavyDoc

 

yeah i did a poor job on the op

Fried said examination by another dentist later determined that most of the dental work was unnecessary.

The suit charges the dentist used a combination of three drugs, all central nervous system depressants, and that the combination enhanced the strength of each without appropriate adjustments in dosage.

Fried said an excessive dose of at least one of the drugs was administered. He said medical records indicate that after respiratory and oxygen levels in the child were measured early in the procedure, no further measurements were taken for more than 26 minutes.

"There was no adequate monitoring of the child's respirations and oxygen levels during the procedure,'' Fried said.

from the article in op

The most damning part is the lack of monitoring. That is criminal negligence IMHO. (Assuming that is true...plaintiff's lawyers are not above exaggerating or misrepresenting facts in civil cases.)

reply to post by Lucid Lunacy


We have a charcoal filter thing for water, but the water is generally good here. I guess it could be that, chlorine or the apple juice (sugar free) she had previously, but its strange how some kids get the cavities and some who eat and drink far worse get nothing.
I am not sold on any causes yet.

For those that did not read the article:

Other dentists examined her (after the incident) and determined that most of the work was NOT needed.

It was determined that she was given a mix of Central Nervous System depressant drugs and an OD on one of them.

Her oxygen levels were not monitored


This is beyond criminal. He should be found guilty of not only malpractice, but murder.

My heart goes out to the family, but I have to ask this: It states that the young girls mother is a RN, and was in the waiting room when emergency personnel arrived. (unaware that there was a problem)

Okay. I my level of medical training is just as an EMT, but I would have NEVER allowed this to be done to my child. I ALWAYS ask what meds are being administered and certainly, an RN would have questioned the procedure, what was being given and would have KNOWN that you don't give those kinds of drugs to a child. Period. In addition to that, even with the proper medication, you would never do something like that out of a surgical setting, with COMPLETE monitoring and appropriate medical personal on hand.


It just doesn't make sense.