death

A Routine Procedure Turns Tragic: Lessons from a Young Life Lost in the Dentist’s Chair

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The recent, heartbreaking death of a 23-year-old fashion intern, during a wisdom tooth removal in Italy, serves as a reminder that no medical procedure, however routine, is entirely without risk. This tragedy, reportedly caused by local anesthetic systemic toxicity (LAST), has sparked an investigation and demands a critical look at patient safety protocols in all medical settings, including the dental office. The woman’s story is particularly poignant. What began as a routine appointment for a filling quickly escalated when a wisdom tooth removal was advised. Moments after receiving multiple doses of two different local anesthetics, the woman collapsed. Despite efforts by medical staff to reverse the effects of LAST, she tragically died three days later. Prosecutors are now investigating the dentist and his two daughters, alleging not only negligence in administering the anesthetics but also critical safety violations like failing … Read more

Woman in Singapore Dies After Wisdom Tooth Removal

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A 24 year old woman in Singapore died after having four wisdom teeth extracted in 2019. The woman had visited the National Dental Centre Singapore first in August 2018. At another visit in April 2019 she complained of severe pain in the upper and lower right side of her mouth. While at the appointment, it was determined that the pain could be due to her four impacted wisdom teeth. The woman decided to have wisdom teeth surgery under general anaesthesia. The woman had no known drug allergies and had previously been given general anaesthesia without any side effects. In May 2019, the woman was admitted to a hospital where she was given a pre-anaesthetic assessment where nothing out of the ordinary was noted. However it was noted the woman was obsese and had a skin condition known as hidradenitis suppurativa. … Read more

Dentist suspended after patient died after teeth extraction

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A dentist in the state of Washington has had their dentistry license suspended over allegations of unsafe practices after a patient died while having multiple teeth removed in 2022. The patient had a significant medical history and was having teeth extracted in June 2022 in advance of a scheduled heart valve surgery. The patient was under moderate sedation for abot five minutes before a drop in oxygen-saturation level, heart rate and blood pressure. The patient had hypertensive cardiovascular disease, valvular heart disease, congestive heart failure, pulmonary emphysema, chronic disease, diabetes, and obesity. In advance of the extractions the dentist had received medical clearance from the patient’s primary care provider but the dentist had not talked to any other doctors treating the patient. During the day of the extractions, the patient was given articaine, lidocaine, triazolam, midazolam, decadron, and cefazolin. Roughly … Read more

Man with infected wisdom tooth dies several weeks later

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In early 2021, a man 44 years of age living in Auckland in New Zealand, died a few weeks after being aware of having an infected wisdom tooth. He first complained of having pain in his lower right wisdom tooth on Christmas Eve in 2020. He went to see a doctor about it several times over many days for swelling and pain and was given antibiotics. He was unable to swallow the pills so was given liquid antibiotics instead but nothing seemed to help with the infection. Later the pain and swelling in his face and neck became progressively worse. He went to the hospital on January 4, 2021. While in the hospital he had x-rays taken and was later discharged. The family was shocked to hear that the man was able to get discharged that soon. He was sent … Read more

Reducing Anxiety among Pediatric Dental Patients

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An interesting article titled “an Anxiety Reduction Program as an Alternative to General Anesthesia for the Anxious Pediatric Dental Patient” was presented on July 23, 2021, at the virtual session of the 2021 International Association for Dental Research (IADR)/AADR/CADR General Session written by Suher Baker and et al. The research set to investigate the efficacy of a systematic Anxiety Reduction Program (ARP) using progressive desensitization to reduce anxiety in children to a level that would allow dental treatment to be performed in-office without the use of general anesthesia. Dental anxiety has been covered on this site before see for example the post Dental Anxiety and Fear: Impact on Oral Health. Children are more likely to experience an unfavorable and unforeseen incident caused by an error or omission during dental treatment that has negative health consequencies. This is because children do … Read more