Maryland boy dies after bacteria from tooth spread to his brain

[dingo]

We have what is called medicare down here which entitles every Australian to free hospital care......our heath system could be better but it could also be a lot worse.

 

[Cubby]

I haven't read all the posts... ( disclosure )

My sons godmother knew an adult women who died from the same thing. Fell over dead in the middle of her doorway one morning on the way to work. White middle class.......

Years ago when I waitressed, my manager had an infected abcess. He looked like he had a half a golf ball stuck in his cheek. If the antibiotics he was on did not start working within 24 hours he was going to be hospitalized and on an IV. It happens......... an infection in the blood stream near the brain is one of the most dangerous. Sadly, I doubt this mother knew she could have taken her son to the ER with the infection for immediate attention.

Never mind even with employer provided dental insurance, it pays very little and tons of dentists don't accept it.

I know in my county ( considered one of the wealthiest in the country), there are volunteer doctors who provide medical attention to the uninsured by donating their time. Sadly I don't think many people realize this, and it's not well known/advertised. I am unaware of any dentists providing this type fo service.

We most definately need healthcare reform. :furious:

 

[kazzbar]

We have what is called medicare down here which entitles every Australian to free hospital care......our heath system could be better but it could also be a lot worse.

Yes, Dingo. It could be a lot worse.. At least if dental care is needed it is available free of charge eventually. I do believe there is awaiting list but I think if it is very serious a hospital emergency room would refer on to relevent services.Which would speed up things. We are lucky that people on health care cards do get free treatment.

 

[dingo]

Thats the truth Kazz.....if youre sick enough no hospital is going to turn you away....no matter what coverage you have....

 

[Beyond Belief]

After reading Peppers post it made me remember my first dentists back in the 50's. He didn't have a drill, he picked the cavity out with an instument. Well obviously he didn't do a very good job, my teeth have also been terrible. New cavities und the fillings. The first root canal I had in 73, took 6 months to finish. He couldn't get the get infection cleared up. He finally drilled a hole in the upper part of my month. Yuk.

I feel so bad for this little guy. I am aware of a young man who had this happen, but he didn't die. He did suffer from brain damage.

 

[kazzbar]

After reading Peppers post it made me remember my first dentists back in the 50's. He didn't have a drill, he picked the cavity out with an instument. Well obviously he didn't do a very good job, my teeth have also been terrible. New cavities und the fillings. The first root canal I had in 73, took 6 months to finish. He couldn't get the get infection cleared up. He finally drilled a hole in the upper part of my month. Yuk.

I feel so bad for this little guy. I am aware of a young man who had this happen, but he didn't die. He did suffer from brain damage.

I am cranky that this boy died when it could have been sorted out.I am a little techy about toothys at the 'mo as I have a toothache ...... Caanot imagine a dentist coming near me without some pain killer.The drill just about drives me insane..

 

[close_enough]

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.

i must agree..sad

my youngest son had ear surgery...6 days later, infection went to his brain...he then had brain surgery, but he's fine now (this was in june 2004)....anyway, a Dr told me that brain abscesses (infection in the brain) are always a risk with ear surgeries, oral surgery & sinus surgery....

this poor child had 6 rotting teeth...no wonder the infection went to his brain...people need to be made more aware of infections above the neck...scary stuff, poor kid

eta...oh my!!!...it was his brother that had the 6 rotting teeth, ugh

 

[close_enough]

We have what is called medicare down here which entitles every Australian to free hospital care......our heath system could be better but it could also be a lot worse.

we have a thing called TennCare...over 300,000 were taken off the plan awhile back, but no children were.....really sad
he didn't get to the hospital fast enough...i'd bet he'd had that headache awhile too for him to have died of this....

 

[GlitchWizard]

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.

Okay, when I said dollar store, I meant the stores where everything is a dollar, not those junky stores called "Dollar Store" where things cost more than a dollar - first off - that might be where I was confused at the expired dates on toothpaste. The store I buy my toothpaste at is called "Dollar Tree" and everything in it is one dollar each.

I checked my toothpaste today and it doesn't expire for another eleven months. It's not that I'm cheap, it's the only place I can find the RED colagate from my childhood.

Toothpaste has expiration dates... learn something new everyday!

 

[southcitymom]

I am cranky that this boy died when it could have been sorted out.I am a little techy about toothys at the 'mo as I have a toothache ...... Caanot imagine a dentist coming near me without some pain killer.The drill just about drives me insane..

I loathe dentists - have a definite phobia...but that's neither here nor there I guess...my husband makes sure our boys go to the dentist a couple of times a year.

 

[Kymistry35]

I think it is unfair to blame the mother for the kids bad dental health. My kids brush twice a day and I help them floss, they eat well, drink milk, have regular dentist visit, and you know what? With the exception of my oldest (who hates to brush), they have all had cavities and had to get sealants. Growing up, my mother could not afford to take us to a dentist. I never got cavities, but my sister did, even though we both took good care of our teeth and ate the same things. I don't think it is as simple as brush and don't get cavities.

 

[JanetElaine]

You know, even if this was initially caused by bad brushing habits or whatever, the last time I checked 'less than perfect oral hygiene' wasn't punishable with the death penalty in the US. This child didn't need to die, and he did - that's what the outrage should be about.

 

[GlitchWizard]

You know, even if this was initially caused by bad brushing habits or whatever, the last time I checked 'less than perfect oral hygiene' wasn't punishable with the death penalty in the US. This child didn't need to die, and he did - that's what the outrage should be about.

Of course it is. I don't think anyone was minimizing that basic thought when they brought up other angles to discuss.

 

[Dalilah]

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.

The Emergency Room. That's how. I live in the area where this happened and the emergency rooms in every hospital in the tri-state area treats medicaid patients for EVERYTHING, which is why medicaid patients GO to the ER instead of doctors' offices. They go to the ER for colds and superficial cuts and everything else you can think of. This woman could have, and should have, taken her sons to the ER and they WOULD HAVE BEEN treated for their DENTAL issues. It happens every single day. It is why the ERs are overrun, but at least they are treating people, no matter what.

There is no excuse for this. None. Now, the taxpayers will pay several hundred thousand dollars for this poor child's brain surgery, instead of a nominal amount (comparatively speaking) for dental work.

 

[Dena]

I personally never knew that you could get dental work in the ER.

I place blame on the dentists, not on the mom here. Waiting months on end is ridiculous. If she called and told the dentist that it was an emergency and her son was in pain, they should've said there was a wait but informed her that she could go to the ER. Even at my dentist, I have had a bad toothache for a couple weeks and they said they would squeeze me in if it didn't subside. However, I have paid them thousands of dollars for work in the last year. I have good insurance and my account is up to date. I can guarantee you that because of those things I will get treated better than someone with no insurance and someone who can not pay.
I can only imagine how "helpful" these people were on the phone with her. I bet you that she now wishes she had done things differently or been more informed, but it sounds to me like she did put forth an effort.
With all the parents out there who kill their children by choice, I can not say anything bad about this woman. I am sure she carries that weight of burden herself.
Going without cable TV or food isn't even enough to get you into the dentist with no insurance.

Something to add as well -
A lot of dentists will not just pull a tooth. My teeth started going downhill when I got pregnant with my son. My teeth would crack and tiny cavities started eating away at my teeth, it was bad. I had one tooth that was so bad, it was the root of all my pain. I wanted it pulled, just gone. The dentist wouldn't do it. She refused to pull it because she believe it could be saved and I was only 22. She would only do a root canal. When they figure out pricing for root canals, they figure in the post and crown as well. You generally can not get a root canal without the rest because it would leave a hollow tooth with no cap.
So the reality here is that the process was probably not just an $80 tooth pull, but more like a $2000 + procedure. Plus the cost of antibiotics. With her having to wait so long, I doubt the dentist planned to just yank his tooth.

 

[southcitymom]

The Emergency Room. That's how. I live in the area where this happened and the emergency rooms in every hospital in the tri-state area treats medicaid patients for EVERYTHING, which is why medicaid patients GO to the ER instead of doctors' offices. They go to the ER for colds and superficial cuts and everything else you can think of. This woman could have, and should have, taken her sons to the ER and they WOULD HAVE BEEN treated for their DENTAL issues. It happens every single day. It is why the ERs are overrun, but at least they are treating people, no matter what.

There is no excuse for this. None. Now, the taxpayers will pay several hundred thousand dollars for this poor child's brain surgery, instead of a nominal amount (comparatively speaking) for dental work.

No emergency room in the US provides regular dental check-ups, so that wouldn't be an option.

If you read the article, you will see that she did indeed take her child to the emergency room because he had a headache that wouldn't go away. The ER did treat the child and give him medecine, but he got worse and was finally admitted for emergency brain surgery. The boy seemed to be getting better after the surgery when, rather suddenly, the infection overtook him.

 

[Dalilah]

I didn't say that ERs give regular dental checkups. That is absurd.

If her sons were complaining about their teeth/mouth pain and she could not find a dentist, the ER will check the patient and call a dental surgeon to come and evaluate and treat the patient.

If she took her child to the ER and only complained about a headache, then she missed the opportunity.

 

[southcitymom]

I didn't say that ERs give regular dental checkups. That is absurd.

If her sons were complaining about their teeth/mouth pain and she could not find a dentist, the ER will check the patient and call a dental surgeon to come and evaluate and treat the patient.

If she took her child to the ER and only complained about a headache, then she missed the opportunity.

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..IMO"

Regular dental care is not an emergency. I was just curious as to how one would provide regular dental care to a child if one had no money to pay for it. So far, no one has answered that question for me.

As I stated before - and as the article states fully - this mother did seek both dental help and eventually emergency room help for her child. She reacted appropriately to what was going on. The emergency room did diagnose the son who eventually died with an absessed tooth and gave medication. The ER at that time did not call a dental surgeon to come and treat the boy. The boy went home and got worse. Then he had emergency surgery. Then he got better. Then he got worse and died.

My only issue was with posts that seemed to blame this mother for what happened. I don't see how a full reading of the article would lead anyone to that conclusion.

 

[Dalilah]

I was just curious as to how one would provide regular dental care to a child if one had no money to pay for it. So far, no one has answered that question for me.

I have not always had dental insurance or money to pay for dental work. But, I was able to find a doctor who was willing to take payments. In one case, it took me a full year to pay off a dentist for a regular check up for myself and my daughter.

I do put some blame the mother because if it were my child, I would stop at nothing to make sure it was taken care of. In my case, just for regular check ups, I had to call maybe 25 or 30 area dentists to find one who was willing to take payments. I didn't have great credit at the time, so it wasn't easy. But, if you try hard enough, you can find an answer. I suppose I just don't understand how she could have let it get that bad. There are answers, there are ways, it's up to us to find them no matter our situation.

 

[southcitymom]

I have not always had dental insurance or money to pay for dental work. But, I was able to find a doctor who was willing to take payments. In one case, it took me a full year to pay off a dentist for a regular check up for myself and my daughter.

I do put some blame the mother because if it were my child, I would stop at nothing to make sure it was taken care of. In my case, just for regular check ups, I had to call maybe 25 or 30 area dentists to find one who was willing to take payments. I didn't have great credit at the time, so it wasn't easy. But, if you try hard enough, you can find an answer. I suppose I just don't understand how she could have let it get that bad. There are answers, there are ways, it's up to us to find them no matter our situation.

I hear you. But if I were worrying on a regular basis about how to house myself and two children (they were homeless for at least a while), dental visits would probably cross my mind very rarely.

The article said the 10 year old didn't complain about tooth pain until the very end. When the six-year-old started complaining about tooth pain, that's when she started making efforts to get dental care for them.

If you're homeless and penniless and your kids aren't telling you they're in distress, you probably aren't thinking about trips to the dentist - that's my point.

I'm just not willing to criticize or condemn this mother who just had to bury her son until I've walked a mile in her shoes.

ETA: Addtionally, many people (particularly those raised in poverty) aren't raised to be particularly concerned about dental health. They figure if a tooth hurts, they'll get it pulled, but that's about it. I doubt any of them think a toothache could lead to death. I didn't even know an infected tooth could lead to death. And neither the dentist they saw nor the hospital they saw told them the boy was in imminent danger.