Put the pieces together, and you will find that it was a two year old who died.
I don’t claim to be a dental expert. But kids have “baby teeth” that will be lost.
In view of the fact that these teeth will be lost anyway, is there a compelling reason to put a two year old child through the risks associated with anesthesia and surgery? Do the benefits clearly outweigh the risks?
This death somehow seems unnecessary. I hope I am wrong about this.
That is a gripping and sad story. I don’t remember losing my baby teeth and teething.
I looked at the AAPD guidelines . Here is their summary:
” Overview: The document provides guidelines for infant oral health care, emphasizing prevention, risk assessment, and early dental intervention.
AAPD emphasizes the importance of infant oral health for lifelong disease prevention.
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Recommendations include preventive strategies, risk assessment, and therapeutic interventions.
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Methods
The guideline updates previous versions, incorporating literature reviews and expert consensus.
A total of 449 articles were reviewed for relevant data.
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Background
Caries is the most prevalent infectious disease in children, affecting over 40% by kindergarten.
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Early childhood caries (ECC) is increasing, especially among low socioeconomic groups.
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Dental caries can lead to significant health issues and affect quality of life.
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Dental Caries
Dental caries is a chronic, infectious disease primarily caused by mutans streptococci (MS).
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MS colonization can begin at birth and is influenced by maternal factors.
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Early risk assessment is crucial for preventing ECC.
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Anticipatory Guidance
Caries-risk assessment should be conducted as primary teeth erupt.
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Establishing a dental home is essential for ongoing oral health care.
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Recommendations for Parental Oral Health
Education on ECC prevention should be provided to parents.
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Routine dental care for parents can reduce the risk of MS transmission to infants.
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Dietary education and proper oral hygiene practices are vital.
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Recommendations for Infant’s Oral Health
Every infant should receive an oral health risk assessment by 6 months of age.
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A dental home should be established by 12 months, including comprehensive evaluations.
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Oral hygiene should begin with the eruption of the first tooth.
Additional Recommendations
Support for establishing dental homes for infants is essential.
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Education for policymakers on the importance of early interventions is necessary. ”
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I am curious as to why a dentist would be performing risky surgery on 2 year old but I don’t know all the circumstances so I’ll withhold judgement.
Somehow, Fred, I don’t think this type of surgery happened very much when we were children. Maybe I’m wrong about that…
There is a great deal to this story we do not know. From the photo, one would suspect that perhaps he had bottle caries on the upper incisors, or possibly those incisors were poorly formed by nature. These teeth are lost at age 6 typically. Maybe the parents thought the disfigured teeth would affect his psychological development. Hopefully that and not something done to make him look like a rapper, for which the parents would/should feel even worse.
Was he vaxxed? Doesn’t he look closer to 3?
There is a good bit we don’t know, J. Sobran. But as a physician, it is hard for me to make sense of this.