Maryland boy dies after bacteria from tooth spread to his brain

[santos1014]

There is a condition known as soft teeth that some children (my 7-year-old goddaughter for one) are born with. Their baby teeth are just more likely to develop cavities and rot unless they are sealed. My goddaughter stays away from sweets and has a very strong teeth cleaning regimine and her teeth are still a mess.

My sons eat sweets and brush their teeth once (sometimes twice) a day and have no problems. They have obviously inherited my lucky teeth genes. I take okay (nothing special) care of my teeth - have never done anything more than brush them once or twice a day and go to the dentist maybe once a year and I never had a cavity until I was 36. Some of it really is the luck of the draw.

Also a lack of calcium can lead to decay and problems. That is a genetic problem that my grandmother, my father, and my brother and I suffer from. My mom worked for a dentist all of our young lives, so we were diligent about dental care, still ended up with cavities. Genetics can be a b*tch sometimes LOL

 

[Hez]

A lack of vitamin C can also cause serious problems for your teeth, so good nutrition is as important oral hygiene.

 

[Dena]

But you are an adult! I am 60 and dental products weren't good when I was a child. No flouride then. I can't tell you how many filling I have now, plus 5 crowns and 2 root canals. But, because of good dental products and toothpaste with flouride, I haven't had a new cavity in years.

My point is that if that child had been brushing regularly, and his soda consumption limited, I seriously doubt that he would have had an abscess, nor would his brother have rotten teeth. BTW, I don't think toothpast "expires."

Toothpaste does expire, and people also buy foreign toothpaste which does not follow US guidelines. There was a big deal made a few years back about this. These products are found in dollar stores.
I think the discussion of how this child got an abscess is pretty irrelevant. The mother was homeless at a point. I don't think that everyday her goal was to make sure her children brushed their teeth.
Look at the story. How is it that a women with no insurance can get BRAIN SURGERY for her child and not a tooth pulled? I refuse to blame the mother. Kids get cavities. Most of us have the luxury of having dentists to go to.

 

[SadieMae]

Toothpaste does expire, and people also buy foreign toothpaste which does not follow US guidelines. There was a big deal made a few years back about this. These products are found in dollar stores.
I think the discussion of how this child got an abscess is pretty irrelevant. The mother was homeless at a point. I don't think that everyday her goal was to make sure her children brushed their teeth.
Look at the story. How is it that a women with no insurance can get BRAIN SURGERY for her child and not a tooth pulled? I refuse to blame the mother. Kids get cavities. Most of us have the luxury of having dentists to go to.

My thoughts exactly...Who foots that bill? The state? Would have been so much easier to pull the tooth and prescribe the kid some antibiotics for the infection. Cost of maybe $100?

Not being able to get an appointment for months is ridiculous also, when it is apparent his tooth problem was an emergency situation.

 

[OneLostGrl]

I have OCD and one of my issues used to be brushing my teeth much too much. From the time I was a teenager I would brush my teeth up to 15 times a day. By the time I was in my middle twenties I started getting awful cavities and found out from my dentist that I had damaged the protective enamal on my teeth from brushing too much. I never knew there was such a thing! LOL brushing too much- it seemed silly to me. But it's true.

The damage had been done- there was nothing that could be done to fix the enamal. So my teeth are full of fillings now and I have had one rool canal. Also, I grit my teeth and because the enamal is not there to protect them, I grit small holes in my molars while I'm asleep. My dentist loves me cuz I'm there so often LOL

Also, there is a condition called Ameleogenesis Imperfecta that causes the enamel to does form properly or at all. This is another consideration in people who have lots of cavities.

And finally, Tooth decay has a genetic component- some people can brush as directed and it will make no difference because of genetics!

I don't think we should assume anything bad about this mother. We do not know the childs history. Even gritting ones teeth can seriously damage the protective enamal and make a person suseptable (sp?) to cavities.

 

[csds703]

You said it all for me! My guess is these children drank sodas instead of milk, and weren't taught dental hygene.

Of all my friends, I don't know of a single child that even has had a cavity or filling.

They probably go to the dentist regularly and have flouride treatments and sealants put on their teeth.

 

[kazzbar]

I took my kids 7 and 8 to the dentists and was amazed to find they did not have one cavity.. But they brush regularly and are not big soda drinkers.I do not understand how a parent lets their kids teeth just get in that state.If your child is in pain or has chronic bad due to decay surely something Must be done.

Poor little boy .It is negligent on the part of the parents regardless of economic issues..IMO.

 

[southcitymom]

I took my kids 7 and 8 to the dentists and was amazed to find they did not have one cavity.. But they brush regularly and are not big soda drinkers.I do not understand how a parent lets their kids teeth just get in that state.If your child is in pain or has chronic bad due to decay surely something Must be done.

Poor little boy .It is negligent on the part of the parents regardless of economic issues..IMO.

I am curious as to how you would get dental care for your children's teeth if you didn't have any money to pay for it.

 

[reb]

i agree with the above posters who said... where is the rest of the story..? what was the kid's diet like? did the mom put coke in his baby bottle? did the kid grow up eating nothing but junk food (as is common in the baltimore/the ghetto)..? did the mother even bother to teach her kid to brush his teeth every night? in terms of 'victimhood'... sometimes it is a sort of a spectrum. the odds are high there were several areas where the mother 'dropped the ball' when it came to taking care of her son. i could be wrong... but i would like to see the more of the history here. and don't tell me they couldn't afford a toothbrush & toothpaste!

either way, it's terrible that a kid had to die from something so simple in the US (or anywhere, really).. in this day & age.

 

[reb]

<I am curious as to how you would get dental care for your children's teeth if you didn't have any money to pay for it.>

answer: have the common sense to know about good nutrition and teach your kids the same. and, teach them to brush their teeth at least twice a day... & floss at least a couple times a week. you don't have to be well-off to do these things.
as for going to the dentist, i still think this woman could have done something. does this family have cable? they could have gone without it for a year to get the kids' teeth up-to-date. or something. unless these people were literally living on a cup of rice & beans a day and starving, i can't believe there's not something they could have done. i understand that sometimes you can't afford things (believe me i know)-- and i am well aware of how abyssmal the poverty in b-more is. but she should have taken better care of him before things got that bad. but once they DID get that bad, surely there is something she could have done or sacrificed, if she really believed that dental check-ups were a #1 priority.

 

[kgeaux]

Yes, stuff can happen - and THAT is where the second problem of not easy access to dental services comes in. However, if one child had a mouth full of horrible cavities and the other had this issue also - that's unlikely to be "stuff happens" and more likely to be poor oral hygeine.

It could be heredity. I know a family whose children all were born with very thin enamel. They take excellent care of their teeth, but all the children have many fillings.

Also, some poorer families are headed by parents who have not been educated properly where diet and hygeine are concerned.

 

[kgeaux]

[/b]

They probably go to the dentist regularly and have flouride treatments and sealants put on their teeth.

That would be me. My children are 25, 24, 22, 20 and almost 16. All cavity free. They were blessed with good strong teeth, were lucky enough to be born into a family that knew how to feed and care for them, and they've all seen a dentist beginning from before they had teeth in their mouths.

It would be easy to sit on my very high horse and denigate this mother, but I won't because I know that her feet aren't so lucky in the shoes they must walk in.

 

[Emmie]

I want to say something here...my children have medical assistance in Maryland...they have what is called MCHIP...I make over 12 an hour plus I receive a good amount of child support. I get it legitally...I would never take anything I didn't qualify for. Every year, I renew...

Now, I have had a horrible time getting a MCHIP dentist. Most dentists (even when children have a problem) have a long waiting list or are not accepting new patients. They ask what kind of insurance you have...you tell them, and they tell you no new patients. Unfortunely, the only one I could find for my kids isn't the nicest person in the world and yells at my 8 year old when he doesn't stay still. My younger child (5) has great teeth...no issues. My 8 year old has had cavities and spacers...and I believe that bad teeth can be genetic. My teeth are a mess, my Father had dentures before he was 25 and my Mother before she was 40.

I can sympathize with this Mom...

 

[southcitymom]

It would be easy to sit on my very high horse and denigrate this mother, but I won't because I know that her feet aren't so lucky in the shoes they must walk in.

My thoughts exactly!

 

[kazzbar]

I am curious as to how you would get dental care for your children's teeth if you didn't have any money to pay for it.

I would go without food for myself rather than let this happen.

 

[southcitymom]

I would go without food for myself rather than let this happen.

If this family was fed via food stamps (and I'm guessing they were), going without food would not buy anyone a trip to the dentist.

Perhaps I read a different article than others on this thread. In the article I read, the woman clearly tried to get help for both of her children for these dental issues.

The cold hard reality is that to most people who live in poverty, dental care is way way way way way way down on their list of things they would do to have a happier healthier life if only they could find the money.

 

[dingo]

Could this mother have taken her son to the hospital free of charge?...he must have been in pain from the infected tooth.

 

[southcitymom]

Could this mother have taken her son to the hospital free of charge?...he must have been in pain from the infected tooth.

Well, after a course of doing other things to include getting him some dental treatment, she finally took him to the hospital when he began complaining of a headache that wouldn't go away. He was given some meds at the hospital but got sicker and was eventually rushed into surgery - he died while recuperating from the surgery.

When he got dental treatment, she made an appointment to get six of his teeth extracted, but had to cancel this appointment because she found out the children had lost Medicare coverage and she couldn't pay for it.

The article lays it out pretty clearly, IMO. She certainly seemed to be trying her best to get both sons the dental care they needed.

 

[dingo]

Thanks South...I didnt read thouroughly enough.....it such a sad waste of life over something that should be within the reach of everybody.........our country has its own problems with dental care..for those that cant afford to pay there is a long waiting list for free treatment....sometimes years.

 

[southcitymom]

Thanks South...I didnt read thouroughly enough.....it such a sad waste of life over something that should be within the reach of everybody.........our country has its own problems with dental care..for those that cant afford to pay there is a long waiting list for free treatment....sometimes years.

It is sad, Dingo, and I'm certainly not bright enough to have a solution. I'm sure the mother never thought his life was in danger due to an absessed tooth.

Healthcare is truly a mess over here. I'm a lucky one - great health and dental for my whole family through my husband's job. When I read this women's story, I just think there but for the Grace of God....