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Thirteen Year Old Girl Dies After Dentist Visit

Posted on 09. Jan, 2011 by wisdom.

I was sad to hear about the death of a 13 year old girl recently after she had a visit to the dentist. Marissa Kingery visited Dr. Henry Mazorow, an 80 year old dentist, who has been in practice since 1956, to remove two baby teeth and uncover an impacted tooth. The tentative cause of death is lack of oxygen to the brain following the administration of anesthesia.

Marissa died in early January 2011 after being on life support for nearly two weeks. She was an eighth grade honor student and her fellow classmates and staff recently held a vigil to remember her along with a moment of silence.

This occurred in Ohio.

In May of 2010  a six year old boy who died during a dentist visit.

For additional details visit http://www.morningjournal.com/articles/2011/01/07/news/doc4d27207bd2d5d011029191.txt and http://chronicle.northcoastnow.com/2011/01/08/court-records-show-dentist-settled-wrongful-death-lawsuit-in-1997/

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Anesthesia in the Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons Office

Posted on 12. Oct, 2010 by wisdom.

The American Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons (AAOMS) is continuing to attempt to increase their ability to attract young adults to elect to have their wisdom teeth removed.

Back in May 2010 they released a video called “Anesthesia: Safety and Comfort in the OMS Office.” The video is over nine minutes long and takes viewers into actual Oral and Maxillofacial surgeon’s offices with interviews by Dr. M. Anthony Pogrel who is Professor and Chair of the Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery at the University of California, San Fransisco, Dr. Andrew Herlich who is Chief of Anesthesiology at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Dr. Michael Miloro who is director for the Postgraduate Residency Training Program at the University of Illinois at Chicago College of Dentistry, Dr. Michael Ding who is Chief Resident of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery at the Baylor College of Dentistry, Roni Lockhart who is an Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery Anesthesia Assistant, Dr. Anthony M. Spina who is an Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeon, Dr. Kathy A. Banks who is an Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeon, and Dr. Richard D. Leathers who is an Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeon.

There is even a brief interview of a patient who recently received anesthesia and a brief history lesson of anesthesia by the narrator of the video.

I particularly enjoy the inclusion of Dr. M. Anthony Pogrel who completed general surgery training in Great Britain and has a clear British accent. I almost feel like his prominence in the video is an attempt to buy some credibility.

As stated numerous times before, I disagree with AAOMS and their stance on wisdom teeth removal. If you have not already done so please visit http://www.teethremoval.com/ to learn about why you should think twice before wisdom teeth removal.

If you look carefully on my website I do question whether or not oral surgeons should be administering anesthesia in their office.

There are certainly some concerns about sexual assault occurring while under anesthesia for wisdom teeth removal at the oral and maxillofacial surgeon’s office.

There are also concerns about oral and maxillofacial surgeon’s having faulty medical gas systems installed and seriously injuring patients while having their wisdom teeth extracted.

Of course there could also be something that might go wrong while under anesthesia and require a patient to be rushed to the emergency room to avoid death from wisdom teeth removal. Therefore, if the patient undergoing wisdom teeth surgery is already at the hospital to have the procedure done this could be the difference between life and death.

Certainly my concerns raised above are somewhat rare and not very likely to occur but they are worth mentioning and being aware of. Of course there could also be problems that occur if surgery is done in a hospital setting such as the anesthesiologist and the oral surgeon not properly communicating.

If you have any thoughts about this video feel free to let me know in the comments section below.

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Dental Needle Could be Replaced

Posted on 20. Jul, 2010 by wisdom.

I find this study to be quite interesting as I have had anesthesia delivered directly in my nose before in an attempt to prevent my constant 24/7 headache.

New evidence has emerged that a common local anesthetic, when administered to the nose as nose drops or a nasal spray, travels through the main nerve in the face and collects in high concentrations in the jaw, teeth, and structures of the mouth.

William H. Frey II and colleagues found that drugs administered to the nose travel along nerves and go directly to the brain, although I really don’t think this finding is novel. One of those nerves is the trigeminal nerve, which brings feelings to the face, nose and mouth. Until now scientists never paid much attention to intranasal drugs passing the nerve in the nose and how it might reach the teeth, gums and other areas of the face and mouth to reduce pain sensations in the face and mouth.

Researchers in this study found that lidocaine or Xylocaine, sprayed into the noses of laboratory rats, quickly traveled down the trigeminal nerve and collected in their teeth, jaws, and mouths at levels 20 times higher than in the blood or brain. This method thus has implications for providing a targeted method for treating  trigeminal neuralgia, migraine, dental pain, and nerve damage.

The researches say an improved future location to administer anesthetic is the maxillary sinus. I question if this is truly a good idea as injecting lidocaine or Xylocaine can cause many symptoms and complications. I feel like this may cause some localized inflammation which would lead to dryness and bleeding in the maxillary sinus. The maxillary sinus would thus be implicated more than it needs to in dental procedures. I would be interested in hearing the opinion of an Ear Nose and Throat Doctor on this issue.

I touch on some of the details of the nerves in the head on my website at http://www.teethremoval.com/nerve_damage_in_depth.html.  I also show the location of the maxillary sinus which is clearly visible in a dental x-ray at http://www.teethremoval.com/complications.html. I also discuss how I had maxillary sinus surgery on my website as after I had my wisdom teeth removed and developed a severe 24/7 headache I had an MRI done. The only abnormality was found in the maxillary sinus. The details of this are explained more on my homepage.

Source: Neil J. Johnson, Leah R. Hanson, William H. Frey. Trigeminal Pathways Deliver a Low Molecular Weight Drug from the Nose to the Brain and Orofacial Structures. Molecular Pharmaceutics, 2010: 100510131956016

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Six Year Old Dies After Dentist Visit

Posted on 15. May, 2010 by wisdom.

A six year old boy has died during a recent visit to the dentist.  This said story has been reported by several news sources such as MSNBC.

An autopsy is currently being conducted to determine the specific cause of death. However, the boy was given anesthesia  during the dental procedure and died after the breathing tube was removed.

This tragic story has occurred in Virginia.

Sedation certainly caries risks when at the dentist and I have previously reported on this blog of a case where someone has died after undergoing anesthesia while having their wisdom teeth removed. If you are considering having anesthesia while visiting the dentist or oral surgeon you should be aware of the risks and potential harmful complications that can occur.

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Childhood Exposure to Anesthesia linked to Learning Disabilities

Posted on 15. Apr, 2009 by wisdom.

Mayo Clinic researchers have found that children undergo multiple surgeries with anesthesia during their first three years of life are at higher risk of developing learning disabilities.

Using data from the Rochester Epidemiology Project, researchers studied the medical records of over 5,000 children fromwho were born between 1976 and 1982.

The research team, led by Robert Wilder, M.D., Ph.D., a Mayo Clinic anesthesiologist, found that although one exposure to anesthesia was not harmful, more than one almost doubled the risk that a child would be identified as having a learning disability before age 19. The risk also increased with longer durations of anesthesia. Even so it is unclear whether the anesthetic, the physiological stress of surgery, or the medical problems that required surgery necessary are responsible for the increased risk of learning disabilities.

The general anesthesia chemicals in use during the study period were primarily halothane and nitrous oxide (known commonly as laughing gas). Halothane is no longer used in the U.S. but has been replaced by similar agents. Nitrous oxide is widely used throughout the world and commonly in the dental setting.

Other studies have linked anesthesia exposure in young children to behavioral problems. The research team would like to continue and examine the database for 10 more years (1982-1992), which would show more modern anesthetics. The researchers are also working with the FDA to complete a study comparing anesthetic use with children compared to those who did not use an anesthetic.

Adapted from materials provided by Mayo Clinic.

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