Maryland boy dies after bacteria from tooth spread to his brain

[Dena]

I agree. And as far as doing what she needed, I bet you in hindsight she thought she was doing everything she could. Looking back, she is probably thinking of all the things she could have done differently, probably not seeing the grave nature of the situation. I can guarantee you this woman did not know how serious this was.
And someone PLEASE tell me why after a dentist saw this child had an absess tooth did he not take care of him right away? This woman should not have had to fight to get her son the care he needed. He had an evaluation and the dentist did not help like he should have.

Another thing - and sorry if I sound like an expert on teeth here, but I've been through a lot in the last year - I currently have an absess tooth. I was in quite a bit of pain last week, could barely chew. I couldn't get into the dentist right away so I dealt with the pain for probably 6 days before I went in. By the time I went in, the pain was gone. I have a very deep infection in an upper molar, it is bad, but I am not in one bit of pain right now, and I haven't been for about a week now. If I hadn't made the appointment while I was in pain, I still would not have an appointment. I would think whatever it was isn't that serious if the pain is gone.
Could I die? Very likely, and that is scary. I have learned from this boy's death that if my son complains of tooth pain I will bring him in right away.

My point is that it is very possible this boy had an infection with no pain. Maybe he said something once and the pain went away. We don't know.

 

[southcitymom]

I agree. And as far as doing what she needed, I bet you in hindsight she thought she was doing everything she could. Looking back, she is probably thinking of all the things she could have done differently, probably not seeing the grave nature of the situation. I can guarantee you this woman did not know how serious this was.
And someone PLEASE tell me why after a dentist saw this child had an absess tooth did he not take care of him right away? This woman should not have had to fight to get her son the care he needed. He had an evaluation and the dentist did not help like he should have.

Another thing - and sorry if I sound like an expert on teeth here, but I've been through a lot in the last year - I currently have an absess tooth. I was in quite a bit of pain last week, could barely chew. I couldn't get into the dentist right away so I dealt with the pain for probably 6 days before I went in. By the time I went in, the pain was gone. I have a very deep infection in an upper molar, it is bad, but I am not in one bit of pain right now, and I haven't been for about a week now. If I hadn't made the appointment while I was in pain, I still would not have an appointment. I would think whatever it was isn't that serious if the pain is gone.
Could I die? Very likely, and that is scary. I have learned from this boy's death that if my son complains of tooth pain I will bring him in right away.

My point is that it is very possible this boy had an infection with no pain. Maybe he said something once and the pain went away. We don't know.

Great post.

In regards to the bolded part - the dentist she saw did tell her that the older child needed to have six teeth pulled. She made the first available appointment for this to happen. Two days before the appointment she found out that Medicaid had dropped her children. She cancelled the appointment until she could get the money or get Medicaid reinstated for the children. A few days later, the child had the headache that took him to the hospital where he was diagnosed with an absessed tooth and given antibiotics.

 

[Kymistry35]

I don't know what kind of hospitals you all have, but the one's in my town will NOT treat you for a dental problem. My mother and husband have both been to the hospital when they had an abcessed tooth (my mother was so bad the whole side of her face was swollen) and the only thing the doctor did was diagnose the problem, give a prescription for pain meds that they couldn't afford and advise that they see a dentist.:doh:

 

[reb]

My original post: "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" was directed to a post that stated: "It (not providing regular dental care) is negligent on the part of the parents regardless of economic issues.>

again- preventative care would have helped, and i bet dollars to donuts this kid didn't have much of either. i know what it's like up there and these people eat garbage every day. and i am sick & tired of people using poverty as an excuse for everything. i am sorry, but don't tell me she had no idea of basic common nutrition, and how to brush your teeth. i have a hard time believing that this kid would have gotten this bad if he brushed twice a day and had a proper diet. not saying he did/didn't- again i could be flat-out WRONG... we don't know, but that odds are definitely high that this is the case.
i mean, at least the mom WAS working instead of sitting around waiting for her welfare check, then spending it all on malt liquor, crack, & lotto tickets like about 75% of the city of baltimore does. and she tried very hard to get the dental care- AFTER the situation was already really bad- she deserves credit for all these things. but i do think there's something more she could have done way before that. something's not right here.

 

[southcitymom]

I don't know what kind of hospitals you all have, but the one's in my town will NOT treat you for a dental problem. My mother and husband have both been to the hospital when they had an abcessed tooth (my mother was so bad the whole side of her face was swollen) and the only thing the doctor did was diagnose the problem, give a prescription for pain meds that they couldn't afford and advise that they see a dentist.:doh:

Yep, that's pretty much what the hospital did for this young boy, but hey, at least they prescribed him some antibiotics.......

 

[southcitymom]

My original post: "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" was directed to a post that stated: "It (not providing regular dental care) is negligent on the part of the parents regardless of economic issues.>

again- preventative care would have helped, and i bet dollars to donuts this kid didn't have much of either. i know what it's like up there and these people eat garbage every day. and i am sick & tired of people using poverty as an excuse for everything. i am sorry, but don't tell me she had no idea of basic common nutrition, and how to brush your teeth. i have a hard time believing that this kid would have gotten this bad if he brushed twice a day and had a proper diet. not saying he did/didn't- again i could be flat-out WRONG... we don't know, but that odds are definitely high that this is the case.
i mean, at least the mom WAS working instead of sitting around waiting for her welfare check, then spending it all on malt liquor, crack, & lotto tickets like about 75% of the city of baltimore does. and she tried very hard to get the dental care- AFTER the situation was already really bad- she deserves credit for all these things. but i do think there's something more she could have done way before that. something's not right here.

If you want to assume the worst of this Mom, have at it. But I'd like to point out that there is not one scrap of evidence or newsprint that states she didn't encourage her sons to brush their teeth and she let them eat junk all day long, so I don't know necessarily understand where you arrived at the opinion that the odds are high that this was the case.

I will also state, once again, that my 7-year-old goddaughter who gets great dental care, brushes and flosses three times a day and doesn't eat sweets has soft teeth that are given to cavities and rot despite this preventative maintenance.

 

[Dena]

My original post: "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" was directed to a post that stated: "It (not providing regular dental care) is negligent on the part of the parents regardless of economic issues.>

again- preventative care would have helped, and i bet dollars to donuts this kid didn't have much of either. i know what it's like up there and these people eat garbage every day. and i am sick & tired of people using poverty as an excuse for everything. i am sorry, but don't tell me she had no idea of basic common nutrition, and how to brush your teeth. i have a hard time believing that this kid would have gotten this bad if he brushed twice a day and had a proper diet. not saying he did/didn't- again i could be flat-out WRONG... we don't know, but that odds are definitely high that this is the case.
i mean, at least the mom WAS working instead of sitting around waiting for her welfare check, then spending it all on malt liquor, crack, & lotto tickets like about 75% of the city of baltimore does. and she tried very hard to get the dental care- AFTER the situation was already really bad- she deserves credit for all these things. but i do think there's something more she could have done way before that. something's not right here.

There's always more you can do, hindsight is 20/20. I bet Mitjka's mother wishes she didn't let her son ride the tram alone. I bet Nya Miangel's mother wishes she had let her daughter sleep with her. What-ifs are a part of everyday life. Things happen and it is very easy to look back and point all the things people have done wrong.
Nobody is perfect. Everyone makes mistakes, and I will blame poverty. We are not living in a world of goodness and potential. For many it is a battle of survival. My life is very much different than people in poverty, and my health will be better because of it. I can afford to buy healthy food, I can afford fruit and vegetables and sugar free juice, all things that are MORE EXPENSIVE, but I feel are necessary and can afford. If I were poor, it would be very likely that more foods we ate would be processed, unhealthy, and I would be more worried about having any food at all in my children's stomachs rather than how healthy it is. You may have been "poor" at one point, but no one has walked a mile in her shoes because you are not her.
I don't care if this kid never brushed his teeth a day in his life, he didn't deserve to die, and there are too many parties involved in this one for me to blame the mother. There were a lot of people involved who did not care about this child.

 

[Masterj]

There's always more you can do, hindsight is 20/20. I bet Mitjka's mother wishes she didn't let her son ride the tram alone. I bet Nya Miangel's mother wishes she had let her daughter sleep with her. What-ifs are a part of everyday life. Things happen and it is very easy to look back and point all the things people have done wrong.
Nobody is perfect. Everyone makes mistakes, and I will blame poverty. We are not living in a world of goodness and potential. For many it is a battle of survival. My life is very much different than people in poverty, and my health will be better because of it. I can afford to buy healthy food, I can afford fruit and vegetables and sugar free juice, all things that are MORE EXPENSIVE, but I feel are necessary and can afford. If I were poor, it would be very likely that more foods we ate would be processed, unhealthy, and I would be more worried about having any food at all in my children's stomachs rather than how healthy it is. You may have been "poor" at one point, but no one has walked a mile in her shoes because you are not her.
I don't care if this kid never brushed his teeth a day in his life, he didn't deserve to die, and there are too many parties involved in this one for me to blame the mother. There were a lot of people involved who did not care about this child.

:clap: :clap: :clap:

 

[Dalilah]

I think everyone here has made really good points. And, yes, hindsight is 20/20. I guess it is easy to say what one should have or could have done after the fact. But, I suppose, none of that means much for this woman and her dear sons now. Hopefully, this story can be used to prevent further disasterous situations for other families.

 

[GlitchWizard]

I think everyone here has made really good points. And, yes, hindsight is 20/20. I guess it is easy to say what one should have or could have done after the fact. But, I suppose, none of that means much for this woman and her dear sons now. Hopefully, this story can be used to prevent further disasterous situations for other families.

It makes me want to go brush my teeth right now, even though it's before lunch and I brushed them this morning.

 

[JanetElaine]

It makes me want to go brush my teeth right now, even though it's before lunch and I brushed them this morning.

OMG hahaha! I'm glad I'm not the only one with this reaction.....

 

[GlitchWizard]

OMG hahaha! I'm glad I'm not the only one with this reaction.....

Quick! Pass this news story to everyone in the world. Maybe everywhere we go people will have minty fresh breath!