Is Pediatric Dental Death Avoidable?
An interesting article titled “Pediatric Dental Anesthesia: An Avoidable Tragedy,” written by Lee et al. appears in the December 2017 edition of Pediatrics (vol. 140, no. 6). In the article the authors present a case of a dental death after anesthesia for early childhood caries and have experts provide commentary. Pediatric dental deaths have been reported in the news over the years with all too much frequency. See the dental deaths page for numerous cases and the original source of the information regarding the case. In the article by Lee the authors say how young children with early childhood caries or cavities are often treated using moderate sedation or general anesthesia. It is estimated that up to 250,000 pediatric sedations for dental treatment occur in the U.S. each year. In these sedations the children are often given benzodiazepines, opioids, nitrous … Read more