Five year-old-girl dies after getting dental treatment

[mtlebay]

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.

The girl's dentist, Hicham Riba, was certified to administer anesthesia to patients and his state license was current, said Susan Hofer, a spokeswoman for the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation.

Speaking to the Chicago Sun-Times before the girl died, the 40-year-old Riba said he was traumatized by what happened. "I don't think I will ever go back to a normal life after an experience like this," he said.

The telephone rang unanswered at Riba's home Wednesday night.

RIP little girl and good luck to her family.

I'm no dentist, but 3 doses of sedatives sure does seem a lot for a 5 year-old, doesn't it?

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

[ralphycnan]

I just read this article on Yahoo!, it's terrible. And yeah 3 doses of sedatives for a 5 year old does seem like alot. I can't even begin to imagine how the mom must have felt when she saw her.

[celeb_2006]

Man, that is SO horrible for all parties involved.

[SuperHeroTights]

that's unbelievably sad. poor thing.

[buttmunch]

This is really horrible but I have to ask why a five year old already has cavities and why did she need caps at that age?

[LynnieD]

I knew a girl (who was younger than me) that died during a dental procedure while in elementary school. Sounds like the same kind of thing, just didn't wake up afterwards. Family was just destroyed...as I'm sure this family is too. Horrible, just horrible.

[moomies]

This is really horrible but I have to ask why a five year old already has cavities and why did she need caps at that age?

My niece in law had some horrible cavities at 5 and got caps. One dentist actually recommended pulling them out but her parents went n got a second opinion and they went with getting caps instead.

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

.

That is really too much for only 2 cavities, even if the girl was the kind of kid to freak out at the dentist, kids just gotta learn to deal with a little pain like the needle from local anesthesia. I was watching this show on TLC or something called 99 disasterous surgeries or something like that and one doc was on drugs (codine) while performing a surgery, cut a woman's 6 major spinal nerves paralyzing her as a result. What a douche...maybe this dentist was under some kinda influence to have administered 3 different sedatives to a 5 yr old for only 2 cavities!!!!!!!

[buttmunch]

Ok, not sure how to ask this without sounding offensive so just remember that I don't mean it to be. How did your neice-in-law get cavities so young? Was she eating alot of candy or drinking alot of soda?

[moomies]

Oh no worries, I'm not offended at all. I don't really know how but I guess she had bad dental hygiene. She's a real picky eater, she never eats meals properly, like she never sits down and eats dinner at dinner time/table. She gets served and she eats a bit, walks/plays around, then comes back to nibble then goes off somewhere. Very bad table manners. So it looks to me that she actually doesn't like to eat food and only likes candy and things at her will, her diet isn't very balanced. And because she's such a picky eater, I bet her teeth are not very strong (she prolly should get more calcium n things?) She's also gets badly constipated (= not enough fibre) and has hemorrhoids...and she's so young!

[AliceInWonderland]

Why o Why did her parents have her sedated for a simple cavity fill?! Didn't they know the risks of that? And why would the Dentist allow that shit?! I didn't even get 'put under' when I had my 4 wisdom's pulled! Idiots!

an intravenous drug

= totally unnecessary for a child!

This is really horrible but I have to ask why a five year old already has cavities and why did she need caps at that age?

yeah really! That small fact says a lot about her parent(s) doesn't it.
-and caps; im guessing she was a pageant child which really pisses me off.

[buttmunch]

Oh no worries, I'm not offended at all. I don't really know how but I guess she had bad dental hygiene. She's a real picky eater, she never eats meals properly, like she never sits down and eats dinner at dinner time/table. She gets served and she eats a bit, walks/plays around, then comes back to nibble then goes off somewhere. Very bad table manners. So it looks to me that she actually doesn't like to eat food and only likes candy and things at her will, her diet isn't very balanced. And because she's such a picky eater, I bet her teeth are not very strong (she prolly should get more calcium n things?) She's also gets badly constipated (= not enough fibre) and has hemorrhoids...and she's so young!

Hemorrhoids and constipation at her age? The parents need to make that kid sit her butt down at the dinner table and eat. They also need to remove any crap from the home so that when she gets hungry she'll eat something healthy. I mean, kids will eat eventually, despite thier sometimes incredible willpower. My younger one is a real table nazi, trying to run around, not eating, begging for ice cream or whatever. We never turn a hair. Just plop his bottom in his chair and tell him to eat. Soometimes it takes many plops into the chair and a long, long time before he will, but it eventually happens and he's getting better. We also explain WHY he should eat fruit, veg, fish, etc. and he's starting to understand and thus eat better. It's not easy but hell, it's your kid and thus your responsibility to make sure they know the value of good nutrition and exercise. And don't even get me started on manners.

Sorry for the rant but when I look around and see half the kids are fat and sluggish I refuse to let this happen to my kids and I can't believe anyone, with the information available today, doesn't make a supreme effort to guide their kids in the right direction.

[Icepik]

My son had a cavity at 5. He didn't have bad oral hygiene. He brushed his teeth regularly and he and I both see my dentist every si months. My son doesn't even like sweets. He won't even eat his own birthday cake. Mind you, hes 12 now and this was and is his only cavity.

When it came time for the dentist to work on the tooth, my son went ballistic. I mean the boy was petrified. My dentist stopped the procedure right away and said he was not going to work on my son in case it traumatized my son - he didn't want my son to be fearful of dentists.

He scheduled an appointment at the hospital, where my son was put out, has his tooth fixed and awoke with no pain or memory of the experince

[LynnieD]

I know a lot of kids that have had cavaties early on---and part of it (imho) it was the toothpaste being used. They brushed their teeth and ate fairly well considering they were young/picky kids. But the toothpaste is that holistic crap and I swear its the anti christ. Just me though.

[buttmunch]

What is the deal with the holistic toothpaste?

[LynnieD]

^^Doesn't have any fluride (sp?) or any of those 'evil' things that some folks (like my parents) think are harmful. It tastes TERRIBLE, it doesn't WORK, in my opinion. Seems odd to me that the few toddler/kids that I know (and I know several) that use this crap are at the dentist more often than other group of kids. And remember, these are health nuts--so these kids aren't eating garbage (much).