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  • WEDNESDAY FEBRUARY 28 2007 4:00 PM

Boy Dies From Bad Tooth

Submitted by Bitch_PhD

Edited by erin_broadley

Tags: health care, insurance



So what happens when kids don't have insurance?

They can die. From a bad tooth. Which abscesses. Spreading infection to the brain.

Horrific summary: the boy's brother had several abscessed teeth, the result of a dentist who "discontinued the treatments . . . after the boy squirmed too much in the chair." (Dude needs to lose his license.) It took a month after the abscesses started to find an oral surgeon who'd see the kid, two months to get a consultation, and another month and a half for the appointment. During which time the family's Medicaid lapsed, so they had to cancel the appointment.

Then Deamonte, in the picture, comes home with a headache, ends up in the hospital, has two brain surgeries, and dies after telling his mother to "make sure you pray before you go to sleep."

Poor children are more than twice as likely to have cavities as their more affluent peers, research shows, but far less likely to get treatment.

Serious and costly medical consequences are "not uncommon," said Norman Tinanoff, chief of pediatric dentistry at the University of Maryland Dental School in Baltimore. For instance, Deamonte's bill for two weeks at Children's alone was expected to be between $200,000 and $250,000. The federal government requires states to provide oral health services to children through Medicaid programs, but the shortage of dentists who will treat indigent patients remains a major barrier to care.


Because Medicaid doesn't pay them enough.

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Comments
Bonnie

Bonnie

SUICIDEGIRL

United Kingdom

FEB 28, 2007 05:11 PM

see stuff like that just doesnt happen in the UK (unless anyone wants to correct me?) cuz we have National Health Service. It's crap, but you don't pay to have a baby. Nothing 'lapses' and so if you're sick, you get treatment. (yes, sometimes hugley delayed etc etc etc) And people below poverty line etc get free medical treatment. Everyone's entitled to it. There are many, many things wrong with it, which I won't go into here, but NHS is the norm. Private health is unusual..like BUPA.
I can't help but feel medical plans like the USA have is kinda fucked. So you don't have to have health insurance - that's fine all the time you're healthy. But what happens when you get sick or have an accident?
Those things aren't planned for. Scary scary stuff

It's so sad about that kid. frown

redconsensus

redconsensus

Baltimore, MD
August 2004

FEB 28, 2007 05:11 PM

Dark_Templar said:


So what happens when kids don't brush their teeth?.......

..........They can die.



Yes it is a sad story, but this is also why you should practice oral hygiene wink



Because of course, no one who practices oral hygiene ever gets cavities. And, of course, regular dentist appointments aren't are part of oral hygiene either. Dick.

DucksAreCrazy

DucksAreCrazy

Lexington, KY
December 2006

FEB 28, 2007 05:12 PM

theconservative said:
my sister ha three kids on medicaid...the ONE thing you don't do is let it lapse. that's rule number one. the help is there, you just have to be willing to wade through the red tape to get it. i hate to say it, the reason it lapsed is because the kid's mother didn't do her paperwork. it's not the government's fault.



I understand where you're coming from, but when was the last time you were on the bottom end of the 'poor medical safety net' system? You don't know what to do; you don't know who to ask for help from, and when you do you don't trust them not to take advantage. The system is set up so that when you fail, they save money. So they'd like nothing more than for you to fail. The problem here is that when you fail, it's more than someone losing some money.

B1LL

B1LL

I'm lost
October 2003

FEB 28, 2007 05:12 PM

C'mon now...sure the medicaid system is a joke...and I'm sure it's hard to find dentists to treat the kids on it...but a vast majority of the blame for this has to fall on this kid's parents for not teaching them proper oral hygiene and not making sure their sick kids are taken care of...giving up after a couple of phone calls? that's not quality parenting...


also, the person who posted this needs to re-read the article...the dentist stopped treatments on the dead kid's brother...not the dead kid...

RileyStClair

RileyStClair

Los Angeles, CA
September 2006

FEB 28, 2007 05:15 PM

stories like this make me physically ill.
everyone should be able to see a dentist, period.

theconservative

theconservative

Spring, TX
October 2004

FEB 28, 2007 05:19 PM

Stickchair said:

theconservative said:
my sister ha three kids on medicaid...the ONE thing you don't do is let it lapse. that's rule number one. the help is there, you just have to be willing to wade through the red tape to get it. i hate to say it, the reason it lapsed is because the kid's mother didn't do her paperwork. it's not the government's fault.



I understand where you're coming from, but when was the last time you were on the bottom end of the 'poor medical safety net' system? You don't know what to do; you don't know who to ask for help from, and when you do you don't trust them not to take advantage. The system is set up so that when you fail, they save money. So they'd like nothing more than for you to fail. The problem here is that when you fail, it's more than someone losing some money.



sure, i can answer that. i grew up on medicaid. i come from the north side of houston with an alcoholic father who rarey kept a job. believe me, i know exactly what it's like. it sucks, but my mother always made sure that the things she could control were taken care of. and this kid's mother could've not have been doing her job for this to happen.

RileyStClair

RileyStClair

Los Angeles, CA
September 2006

FEB 28, 2007 05:21 PM

B1LL said:
C'mon now...sure the medicaid system is a joke...and I'm sure it's hard to find dentists to treat the kids on it...but a vast majority of the blame for this has to fall on this kid's parents for not teaching them proper oral hygiene and not making sure their sick kids are taken care of...giving up after a couple of phone calls? that's not quality parenting...


also, the person who posted this needs to re-read the article...the dentist stopped treatments on the dead kid's brother...not the dead kid...



no offense, but oral hygiene won't solve everyone's problems. i was fortunate enough to have grown up with health insurance, but i have weak enamel, making my teeth hyper susceptible to cavities. despite the fact that my parents were extremely strict with regard to oral care and i've brushed my teeth at least twice a day and flossed literally since i've had teeth, i still sometimes get cavities through no fault of my own. if i hadn't been lucky enough to have those myriad tiny cavities filled, they very well could have abscessed.

Holliday

Holliday

Austin, TX
March 2004

FEB 28, 2007 05:22 PM

This actually happened to me...
Had an infected tooth that went untreated for a while (i didn't have any pain! thought the symptoms were stress related after 9/11)...

Luckily, I had insurance...three rounds of antibiotics later...my dentist told me how lucky I was that the infection had spread DOWN instead of up into my head.

Fucking christ!

Morgan

Morgan

SUICIDEGIRL

Illinois, USA

FEB 28, 2007 05:23 PM

TheFox said:
We were just above the poverty line when I was growing up. I went to the dentist for the first time at the age of 17



Same here. Somehow I was lucky, though, and I've managed to never have a cavity. The only reason we sucked it up and took me to the dentist at 17 was to get my very, very painful wisdom teeth out.

And a year after the doctor took out my teeth, he shot his wife in the leg! Crazy.

DrStinkypants

DrStinkypants

Saint Paul, MN
October 2002

FEB 28, 2007 05:24 PM

Stickchair said:

theconservative said:
my sister ha three kids on medicaid...the ONE thing you don't do is let it lapse. that's rule number one. the help is there, you just have to be willing to wade through the red tape to get it. i hate to say it, the reason it lapsed is because the kid's mother didn't do her paperwork. it's not the government's fault.



I understand where you're coming from, but when was the last time you were on the bottom end of the 'poor medical safety net' system? You don't know what to do; you don't know who to ask for help from, and when you do you don't trust them not to take advantage. The system is set up so that when you fail, they save money. So they'd like nothing more than for you to fail. The problem here is that when you fail, it's more than someone losing some money.



That's true across the board for health care though. Private healthcare providers are more than happy to not cover medical expenses for any tiny reason.

The problem here is not necessarily the lack of health care but the way its administered.
I have to deal with this shit all the time and I'm completely convinced that people up and down the chain of command have no fucking idea how any of it even works so finding out exactly what you need to do, when, is next to impossible.

Once some sort of UHC is implemented I'm sure it will get even more bureaucratic and disorganized.

Beau

Beau

SUICIDEGIRL

USA

FEB 28, 2007 05:26 PM

I never even knew something that serious could happen from untreated teeth.
It is sad to hear something like this ;.; Especially when people are saying it could have been so treatable....

Emi

Emi

SUICIDEGIRL

USA

FEB 28, 2007 05:29 PM

i've heard that can happen. sad frown
our healthcare system sucks balls.

Dark_Templar

Dark_Templar

Auburn, CA
June 2004

FEB 28, 2007 05:29 PM

redconsensus said:

Dark_Templar said:


So what happens when kids don't brush their teeth?.......

..........They can die.



Yes it is a sad story, but this is also why you should practice oral hygiene wink



Because of course, no one who practices oral hygiene ever gets cavities. And, of course, regular dentist appointments aren't are part of oral hygiene either. Dick.



Dont drown in the sarcasm buddy, I was advocating education about oral hygiene could have prevented this, if his brother has 6 rotten teeth, then obviously until this happened they probably didn't take oral hygenie very seriously. Dick

Stevie

Stevie

SUICIDEGIRL

California, USA

FEB 28, 2007 05:33 PM

that's terrible.
i wonder if the same would happen for wisdom teeth.?
I definetely ended up in the ER because mine got so bad,

no insurance though.. it's still with me.
along with the shit pills the doctor gave me.

troublekicker

troublekicker

I'm lost
March 2006

FEB 28, 2007 05:36 PM

Wow, if only they had gotten jobs or been smart enough to be born with insurance, Why don't they poor people in this country buy insurance instead of crack. But on the bright side if they join the army the can get some marginal Dental care.
Hurray for the land of the Free!

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