How Dangerous Is Dental Anesthesia In Children?

My friend Steve Lombardi, a personal injury lawyer in Des Moines, had a blog post the other day talking about Children’s Safety and Dental Anesthesia.   In the post, Steve described a recent incident in Canada where a child died during a dental visit.   I hadn’t really thought much about the problem so I took a few minutes to Google the issue.  While these types of problems appear to be rare, they do occur.  In fact, a young child died just last week at Virginia Commonwealth University’s dental clinic. 

And the problem may be increasing.  Kevin Donly, the chairman of pediatric dentistry at the University of Texas Health Science Center in San Antonio, notes that cavity rates for children ages 2 to 5 has increased for the first time since dentists have been keeping track of those statistics.  As the cavity rate increases, the need for procedures and anesthesia increases.

So what do you do to protect your kids?  Frankly, I don’t have an answer.  We all want what’s best for our kids, and that includes keeping them safe.  Screen your dentist.  If general anesthesia is being used, make sure that an anesthetist is involved.  But maybe the best way is prevention.  Make sure your kids take care of their teeth.

Other posts of interest:

• About More Than Money, by San Antonio Injury Lawyer Beth Janicek
• Boy Dies During Dental Procedure
• DentistryIQ  Child Deaths From Anesthesia