Dental Deaths - must read if you go to Dentist!

[MamaPrincess]

http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/death-greed-dentist-american-children-risk/story?id=16763109

ABC news.. article and Video with Daiene Sawyer

"More than a dozen children have died after being sedated by dentists, according to the Raven Maria Blanco Foundation, which seeks to alert parents to the potential dangers of the increasingly widespread use of oral sedatives on patients as young as 18-months old."

[Maedze]

It's always been my gut instinct that if a dental procedure requires sedation for a child, it's best done in hospital. 

[brigala]

I was absolutely LIVID when I found out a dentist had gassed my 6 year old for a cavity filling without my knowledge or permission. The same dentist also did a root canal on my child after we specifically told him not to (and didn't tell us, either; we didn't know until we saw the insurance statement). We filed a complaint with the insurance company and never went back, of course. This was a pediatric dental office. 

[Maedze]

Originally Posted by brigala 

I was absolutely LIVID when I found out a dentist had gassed my 6 year old for a cavity filling without my knowledge or permission. The same dentist also did a root canal on my child after we specifically told him not to (and didn't tell us, either; we didn't know until we saw the insurance statement). We filed a complaint with the insurance company and never went back, of course. This was a pediatric dental office. 

[Roxswood]

Oh my goodness. Thats awful. 

Here in the UK my then 3 year old daughter needed five cavities filled ( we still don't know why this happened but the decay started before she ever even ate solid food ) but the specialist NHS children's dentist we went to was happy to spend as much time as needed with her until she was happy to sit for it. We had about 3 appointments where she just sat on my lap and they chatted and played with her and examined her teeth while she sat facing me on my lap but reclined onto the dentist's lap and then we had the last two appointments with a completely happy (and actually excited lol) little girl who sat in the big chair and had all of them filled. They didn't need to use any anaesthetic or anything as they were milk teeth. 

My older daughter went to the same dentist for an extraction after an abcess and they discussed all the options with us and eventually did a similar thing, behavioural techniques and lots of reassurance and demonstrating equipment and eventually a relaxed child holding Daddy's hand sat through the local anaesthetic and the extraction. 

They were very clear with me that the children would not be sedated except in a hospital setting. 

[anj_rn]

Children should not be sedated without an trained sedation nurse, an anesthesiologist on site, and a full cardiac monitor.  There are pediatric dentists who use "light" or conscious sedation, but there should always be a trained, licensed medical professional on hand whose sole responsibility is the administration of medication, and monitoring of vital signs, until the patient's vital signs have returned to pre-anesthesia levels, they are awake, and have held down clear liquids.

i was a sedation nurse, and was responsible for sedating children for radiologic procedures (usually MRIs).  When we sedated, we followed all the rules and had an anesthesiologist on site.  I interviewed with a dentist once, but they had no anesthesiologist on site, so I refused the job.  I also would never allow myself, or any of my family to be sedated without verifying who would be monitoring us.