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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
wildswan

wildswan

I'm lost
June 2006

FEB 28, 2007 08:21 PM

^^^ Better yet, why don't kids learn to be born to financially capable, responsible, parents?!

whatever

alcoholiv

alcoholiv

Portland, ME
July 2005

FEB 28, 2007 08:29 PM

i HATE the healthcare system in the US. they tried to do 2 types of "universal" health care in maine, mainecare and dirigo choice. in order to qualify, you have to be VERY below the poverty line or be close to the poverty line with children. my best friend qualified for mainecare while she was living with her mother, but when she turned 21, they decided she no longer "qualified" aka she aged out. she is suffering from kidney deterioration and constant urinary tract infections, upper UTIs, and kidney infections. it will eventually kill her if she doesnt get a kidney transplant. she has maxed out 3 credit cards paying for the $400/month prescriptions to keep her functioning. if either of us got seriously ill right now, we'd be totally fucking screwed. the US government has its priorities totally fucked.

Vivid

Vivid

SUICIDEGIRL

California, USA

FEB 28, 2007 08:39 PM

Actually that happened to me about a month or so ago... my broken tooth of forever got infected, spread into my face [which swelled up many times its size] and by the time I got into somewhere [a school of Dentistry], it had spread to my brain and that caused even more problems.
I got better, but of course it cost an arm and a leg.

Sometimes its genetics too. I have genetically weak teeth. It sucks nuts.



_DictionaryGirl_

_DictionaryGirl_

NEWSWIRE

San Diego, CA

FEB 28, 2007 08:51 PM

timirevolting said:
Sorry to hear a death was the result. However, WHY are these people relying on medicaid to care for their illnesses? Get a job, get health benifits, or pay your own way when your ill. Have a nice day! smile



Are you fucking kidding me?! I'm a college graduate with a job, and I don't have health benefits. Nor do I make enough to "pay my own way" for things like surgeries. Christ, dude. Nice day indeed. surreal

In other related business, this news story makes me desperately sad.

Kyra

Kyra

SUICIDEGIRL

Nevada, USA

FEB 28, 2007 08:55 PM

S_Eldorado said:

timirevolting said:
Sorry to hear a death was the result. However, WHY are these people relying on medicaid to care for their illnesses? Get a job, get health benifits, or pay your own way when your ill. Have a nice day! smile



Easier said than done. Not everone is lucky enough to have steady work and not all jobs in the US offer medical.



Exactly.

Joel_T

Joel_T

Springfield, IL
November 2006

FEB 28, 2007 09:14 PM

It can happen really quick, although I don't know if that is the norm. On the way back from a concert one night I got a horrible toothache. By that morning my right cheek was swelled up really bad, and it felt like the infection was swelling and pushing on my eye. . I made a dentist apointment for that afternoon. I called into work, but went into get my check so I could pay for the appointment. My boss, whom I didn't get along with, was pissed that I showed up to get my check after calling off, and asked what was wrong with me. I had my hair down covering my face so people couldn't see the swelling, so instead of telling her, I just lifted up my hair. She freaked out. Once I got to the dentist, he said he couldn't do anything to the tooth until we got the swelling down, but that we needed to get rid of the infection fast. He was worried because some antibiotics don't do anything for me (amoxicillin that I know of). I got some other form of penicilin, and came back the next day, and thankfully it worked. I'm suprised there aren't more people dying/getting seriously ill from this. It scares me to think what would have happened if I hadn't gotten treatment right away.

MistressMissy

mistressmissy

Grand Rapids, MI
March 2003

FEB 28, 2007 09:15 PM

The first time my mom took me to the dentist, I had 9 cavities.

MrsMeaney

MrsMeaney

Chicago, IL
November 2005

FEB 28, 2007 09:43 PM

I'm on Medicaid, and was actually calling everywhere, today, to look for a dentist. The majority of people I spoke with didn't even wait for me to say "thanks" after saying they don't accept it. They just hung up on me, and left me alone with my toothache. frown

Bitch_PhD

Bitch_PhD

I'm lost
February 2007

FEB 28, 2007 10:16 PM

As far as the "it's the mom's fault for letting Medicaid lapse" thing goes--no doubt, partly. But how many of you have gotten busy and forgotten or screwed up paperwork at some point in your lives? What if you're a poor working single mom with two kids? The amount of crap you have to stay on top of with kids is insane, and inevitably some stuff is going to get screwed up somewhere along the line. People shouldn't die because they get behind on some bureaucratic bullshit.

And blaming the mom for stuff like this is *exactly* why I get so hacked off about people blaming moms with problems for whatever happens to their kids when a lot of the problems people have would be a lot easier to address if there were some kind of functioning health care system--whether it's mental health, insurance, or help kicking a drug or alcohol habit.

Ska_Boss

Ska_Boss

Indianapolis, IN
October 2005

FEB 28, 2007 10:29 PM

That is 100% fucked up. If you ask me, health care is absolutely an essential human right and anyone who doesn't think so is a fucking fascist as far as I'm concerned.

theconservative

theconservative

Spring, TX
October 2004

FEB 28, 2007 11:01 PM

Bitch_PhD said:
As far as the "it's the mom's fault for letting Medicaid lapse" thing goes--no doubt, partly. But how many of you have gotten busy and forgotten or screwed up paperwork at some point in your lives? What if you're a poor working single mom with two kids? The amount of crap you have to stay on top of with kids is insane, and inevitably some stuff is going to get screwed up somewhere along the line. People shouldn't die because they get behind on some bureaucratic bullshit.

And blaming the mom for stuff like this is *exactly* why I get so hacked off about people blaming moms with problems for whatever happens to their kids when a lot of the problems people have would be a lot easier to address if there were some kind of functioning health care system--whether it's mental health, insurance, or help kicking a drug or alcohol habit.



what the fuck? what should moms be held accountable for?

DrStinkypants

DrStinkypants

Saint Paul, MN
October 2002

FEB 28, 2007 11:25 PM

theconservative said:

Bitch_PhD said:
As far as the "it's the mom's fault for letting Medicaid lapse" thing goes--no doubt, partly. But how many of you have gotten busy and forgotten or screwed up paperwork at some point in your lives? What if you're a poor working single mom with two kids? The amount of crap you have to stay on top of with kids is insane, and inevitably some stuff is going to get screwed up somewhere along the line. People shouldn't die because they get behind on some bureaucratic bullshit.

And blaming the mom for stuff like this is *exactly* why I get so hacked off about people blaming moms with problems for whatever happens to their kids when a lot of the problems people have would be a lot easier to address if there were some kind of functioning health care system--whether it's mental health, insurance, or help kicking a drug or alcohol habit.



what the fuck? what should moms be held accountable for?



Haven't you been reading?
Nothing is anyone's fault, ever.
duh

Subrosa

Subrosa

San Francisco, CA
July 2004

FEB 28, 2007 11:27 PM

The question of whether or not the mother should be blamed is about the farthest thing humanly possible from the point or what people should be taking from this story. It's not the boy's fault that his mother slipped up, and yet he is the one to pay for her failures (as well as those of the dentists who treated him and the medical/dental system in general.) There is plenty of "blame" to be shouldered here amongst several people, but what people should be primarily concerned about is ensuring that blameless children should not have to suffer the consequences.

theconservative

theconservative

Spring, TX
October 2004

FEB 28, 2007 11:45 PM

Subrosa said:
The question of whether or not the mother should be blamed is about the farthest thing humanly possible from the point or what people should be taking from this story. It's not the boy's fault that his mother slipped up, and yet he is the one to pay for her failures (as well as those of the dentists who treated him and the medical/dental system in general.) There is plenty of "blame" to be shouldered here amongst several people, but what people should be primarily concerned about is ensuring that blameless children should not have to suffer the consequences.



parents should make sure of that.

Dark_Templar

Dark_Templar

Auburn, CA
June 2004

FEB 28, 2007 11:46 PM

Subrosa said:
The question of whether or not the mother should be blamed is about the farthest thing humanly possible from the point or what people should be taking from this story. It's not the boy's fault that his mother slipped up, and yet he is the one to pay for her failures (as well as those of the dentists who treated him and the medical/dental system in general.) There is plenty of "blame" to be shouldered here amongst several people, but what people should be primarily concerned about is ensuring that blameless children should not have to suffer the consequences.



Good Arguement........ Lets Blame Subrosa, its his fault ..... wink biggrin

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