Girl goes to dentist, leaves in a coma

[Sgt. Pepper]

Just learned about this one today. It has me hopping mad! This dentist has terrible reviews online detailing similar circumstances (unnecessary procedures, excessive anesthesia.)

http://www.cnn.com/2014/01/03/justic...html?hpt=hp_t2

(CNN) -- The parents of a 3-year-old in a "vegetative state" are suing a Kailua, Hawaii, dentist, alleging negligence and dangerous conduct that left the girl with massive, irreversible brain damage.


The lawsuit filed against Lilly Geyer and her practice, Island Dentistry for Children, alleges improper medications with incorrect dosages were administered to Finley Boyle on December 3, 2013, according to court documents filed this week.

[Wendy A.]

that's awful! How does a 3 yr old need a root canal anyway? Those are just baby teeth! And why did he leave her sedated and un-monitored for 26 minutes? WTH?

[Mammy]

Why in the world would a three year old need six fillings and four root canals? Most three year olds I have seen have perfect teeth, including my three year old grandson. It sounds like bottle rot. I would think a dentist would be wary of doing that much dental work to a three year old. Poor little girl.

[Gabby]

A 3year old needed 6 fillings and 4 root canals ...wtf?

[Mammy]

A 3year old needed 6 fillings and 4 root canals ...wtf?

That's some rather long term neglect. Most little kids like to brush their teeth and a toothbrush and toothpaste isn't expensive. Dollar Tree has tons of both. It sounds like a child whose parents put juice or soft drinks in a bottle and didn't take proper care of her teeth and all of the sugar rotted her teeth out.

[BelleRain]

The report stated the dentist was doing unnecessary procedures. But why didnt the parents question this? I knew my fear of the dentist was for good reason!

[1karenhb]

Wow that was my reaction too. Why would a 3 y.o. need root canals and that many fillings? I fear dentists too.

[tarsier]

The parents don't deserve a free pass on this at the very least they should have gotten a second opinion and certainly shouldn't gain at the child's expense

[Sgt. Pepper]

The little girl passed away today.

[Mammy]

The little girl passed away today.

Bless her heart, that is so sad. In the condition she was in, the poor baby would have had a miserable life.

[Wendy A.]

The little girl passed away today.

so sad. Poor baby, hope she rest's in peace.

[cindyt]

Sgt Pepper, you are in violation of Rule 7: Follow all copyright, fair-use, and licensing guidelines. You have have posted extreme copyrighted material which is copyright infringement and could lead to a lawsuit against Scott Michaels. The rule of thumb is to post a short paragraph and a link to the main article. Please edit it to comply with rule 7 ASAP.

[Sgt. Pepper]

Sgt Pepper, you are in violation of Rule 7: Follow all copyright, fair-use, and licensing guidelines. You have have posted extreme copyrighted material which is copyright infringement and could lead to a lawsuit against Scott Michaels. The rule of thumb is to post a short paragraph and a link to the main article. Please edit it to comply with rule 7 ASAP.

Wow, really? Sorry about that. I guess I did not think it was against the rules if I linked back to the article.
Sorry again!

[cindyt]

Wow, really? Sorry about that. I guess I did not think it was against the rules if I linked back to the article.
Sorry again!

It is clearly stated in the FAQs. Thanks for editing it.

[babyblujems]

For those asking about why she may have needed so much work, well some plus whatever extra the dentist said there are reasons other then bad parents and bottle root. This past June my 5 year old had 3 teeth pulled and 2 root canals and 2 fillings done. Not because he doesn't brush his teeth, he does 3 times a day, or because he had the bottle too long, he was off the bottle by 15 months or because he had his pacifier too much, that was gone before 4 months, but because he had an infection in his kidneys at 1 month old. The infection ended up filtered into the blood and cause a fever of about 105 and actually caused damage not only to teeth but to the kidneys, bladder and slight damage to his bones. I was also told by the dentists at Franciscan Children's Hospital that extremely high fevers in infancy can cause a higher susceptible to problems in the baby teeth.
As for this girl, I can't believe she had to go through all that. Now let me see if I have this right, first she suffered a heart attack then they gave her more medication? What kind of medication would a dentist keep on hand to help with that?

[Mammy]

For those asking about why she may have needed so much work, well some plus whatever extra the dentist said there are reasons other then bad parents and bottle root. This past June my 5 year old had 3 teeth pulled and 2 root canals and 2 fillings done. Not because he doesn't brush his teeth, he does 3 times a day, or because he had the bottle too long, he was off the bottle by 15 months or because he had his pacifier too much, that was gone before 4 months, but because he had an infection in his kidneys at 1 month old. The infection ended up filtered into the blood and cause a fever of about 105 and actually caused damage not only to teeth but to the kidneys, bladder and slight damage to his bones. I was also told by the dentists at Franciscan Children's Hospital that extremely high fevers in infancy can cause a higher susceptible to problems in the baby teeth.
As for this girl, I can't believe she had to go through all that. Now let me see if I have this right, first she suffered a heart attack then they gave her more medication? What kind of medication would a dentist keep on hand to help with that?

I apologize for thinking the worst of people I don't even know. I had never heard of a child that age needing such extensive dental work and from other people's posts here, neither had they. The things the dentist did are incredibly strange and make no sense, especially sedating her and leaving her unattended for 26 minutes. Was nobody around her during that time and noticed she was having problems? The whole thing just doesn't make sense.

[RiotBoots]

Regardless of how awesome her previous dental care was .. Why would a dentist choose to do that kind of work on teeth that will be gone soon anyway?

[Mammy]

I'm sure he would be making a lot of money on that much dental work. Dentists are expensive.

[Wendy A.]

Regardless of how awesome her previous dental care was .. Why would a dentist choose to do that kind of work on teeth that will be gone soon anyway?

That was my thought too. I'm not a dentist, but I didn't think baby teeth even had roots? I mean I've seen what comes out when my kids lost a baby tooth, and I've seen what comes outta my mouth when my dentist has pulled one.. mine had roots, theirs did not.

[Mammy]

That poor baby must have been in so much pain to have her teeth in such awful condition. Toothaches are one of the most unbearable pains imaginable and she was still a toddler. Her teeth had to have been getting bad over a period of time, there's no way they all just got bad at once. Where did this dentist get his degree from, Ebay? No offense to the exceptions for parents whose child could legitimately have these dental problems due to other health issues, but this just sounds like long term neglect and finally taking her to a money hungry quack for a dentist.

[Noelle1966]

Wow, that mother looked like a teenager! That's neither here nor there, though. It is just so extremely sad to see this family suffer. I agree that with all doctors, you need to shop around. I had a dentist that did a lot of work on me. It came undone and I really found it so unnecessary. She did the same thing with my sister. When I went to two different dentists, both were surprised at the work. They both said that it didn't need to be done. I am happy that I have someone right now who says to me, "Hey, use Crest whitestrips. They are just as good as the expensive stuff." I think that my sister and I paid for our former dentist's beautifully furnished office. God Bless the family of this little girl.

[Sgt. Pepper]

That poor baby must have been in so much pain to have her teeth in such awful condition.

I highly doubt this. The doctor in question has apparently pulled this stunt with a lot of families, by saying they needed lots of dental work which was really all unnecessary. She also likes to completely sedate patients for even simple fillings. Apparently, she also does a quick, sloppy job and fits adult crowns and caps for children. Just an all around terrible woman.

[Mammy]

I highly doubt this. The doctor in question has apparently pulled this stunt with a lot of families, by saying they needed lots of dental work which was really all unnecessary. She also likes to completely sedate patients for even simple fillings. Apparently, she also does a quick, sloppy job and fits adult crowns and caps for children. Just an all around terrible woman.

Okay, that makes sense. She just told the family that the little girl needed all of this done and she really didn't. How has she managed to stay in business? I hope she gets in trouble for killing this little girl.

[Sgt. Pepper]

Okay, that makes sense. She just told the family that the little girl needed all of this done and she really didn't. How has she managed to stay in business? I hope she gets in trouble for killing this little girl.

I think her practice is shut down permanently. That is probably the only good thing to come of this whole mess.

[atomicbettie]

That is really sad. My friend's son had to have a lot of dental work on his baby teeth which I thought was crazy too. He had to have crowns, I believe. She said it was from him drinking well water that was not flouridated. I don't know if that is true or not, maybe that dentist had a scam going as well. I remember her telling me they were crowning the baby teeth so the saliva (which has the enzymes that break down teeth) couldn't get down and hurt the growing permanent teeth. Who knows. I just remember it was a lot of money for something so temporary.

[Noelle1966]

Mammy, so many stay in business and should be out. It is sad that it took this child's death to close down this woman. Did she just do pediatrics?

[Mammy]

I think her practice is shut down permanently. That is probably the only good thing to come of this whole mess.

That's a very good thing, but she should face criminal charges, too. What would stop her from moving away and reopening her business elsewhere in a town where nobody had ever heard of her?

[theotherlondon]

This whole story is very sad, I feel for her Mom and Dad.

[babyblujems]

Regardless of how awesome her previous dental care was .. Why would a dentist choose to do that kind of work on teeth that will be gone soon anyway?

The adult teeth underneath can be impacted negatively if there are cavities in the baby teeth.

[babyblujems]

I apologize for thinking the worst of people I don't even know. I had never heard of a child that age needing such extensive dental work and from other people's posts here, neither had they. The things the dentist did are incredibly strange and make no sense, especially sedating her and leaving her unattended for 26 minutes. Was nobody around her during that time and noticed she was having problems? The whole thing just doesn't make sense.

No that's ok I was just saying that there are other reasons, however it very well might have been just neglect. I do know that a good dentist will do a wait and see every six months in hopes that they don't get too bad because they don't like to sedate patients who are under 4. Plus the operations need to be done with approval from the regular doctor and a physical needs to be done. At least that's how it is here in MA it might be different there. Or the doctor probably didn't follow that protocol more then likely.

[stephenmiller]

Any further news on this dentist or quack? She probably flunked out of dental school.

[Forever-27]

There's a 13 year old girl going threw a similar thing. She went into Childrens Hospital in Oakland, Ca , she had a heart attack during the surgery to have her tonsols removed and now she's brain dead. They've got a machine hooked to her so it keeps her breathing but her brain has no responce. Her mom got a judge to order the hospital to keep the life support on, the hospital has said they were going to pull her plug since there's no point in keeping a dead person on life support.

[Wendy A.]

There's a 13 year old girl going threw a similar thing. She went into Childrens Hospital in Oakland, Ca , she had a heart attack during the surgery to have her tonsols removed and now she's brain dead. They've got a machine hooked to her so it keeps her breathing but her brain has no responce. Her mom got a judge to order the hospital to keep the life support on, the hospital has said they were going to pull her plug since there's no point in keeping a dead person on life support.

Yes! That's beyond sad. Aren't they moving her to some place in New York?

[Forever-27]

they've found a place to send her for care, but doctors are saying transporting a for all purpouses a dead person 3000 plus miles is not only expensive but not practical. If they pull her off the machine shes got seconds to "live " before her body shuts down completly.

[Wendy A.]

That's so sad. I don't know what I'd do in such a situation.. I'd like to think I know, but I think this is one of those situations where you really don't until your in it. I feel so bad for her family.

[Mammy]

There's a 13 year old girl going threw a similar thing. She went into Childrens Hospital in Oakland, Ca , she had a heart attack during the surgery to have her tonsols removed and now she's brain dead. They've got a machine hooked to her so it keeps her breathing but her brain has no responce. Her mom got a judge to order the hospital to keep the life support on, the hospital has said they were going to pull her plug since there's no point in keeping a dead person on life support.

It sounds like her mom is in denial and still hoping for a miracle, which is understandable. As time passes and she comes to terms with the fact that her daughter will never get better, she'll likely change her mind. That is her decision to make, not the hospital. Since when did hospitals start trying to bully families into pulling the plug on a loved one?

[Forever-27]

the hospital says theres nothing that can be done for the girl. Shes brain dead and wont recover. They want to pull the life support and use the bed for somebody else. The mom wants to keep her kid alive on the off chance she shows some kind of brain activity. The hospital said NO way, so the family went to court and had a judge order the hospital to keep the life support going. I think the court order runs out sometime Monday night.

[Mammy]

I wouldn't want to be kept alive in that condition, but I can't even speculate how I would feel seeing my child in that condition. I'm sure if the mom can find a facility to keep the girl, there are places that would keep her alive in that condition indefinitely. What an awful position to be in.

[Linnie]

Even an adult can die from stupid mistakes during a "routine" tooth extraction, like this unfortunate 24-yr-old chap:
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/nati...icle-1.1306471

I know a lady whose dentist appeared on some "top dentists" lists, and SHE'S having nothing but trouble with the guy-- and she's over 50.
When we were growing up, we had a dentist who was the soul of honor, but that generation is dying off quickly.

As for the 13-year--old girl, Jahi McMath, who suffered brain death after the tonsillectomy, apparently her surgery was actually very extensive and complicated, plus very possibly her obesity was a contributing factor. (The problem they were trying to correct was sleep apnea rather than tonsillitis.) Some have alleged that the family did not follow doctor's orders while visiting the child in the ICU, which may have made the situation worse.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/1...n_4485119.html

The latest news on this:

http://bostonherald.com/news_opinion...calif_hospital

The facility that has agreed to take Jahi McMath in sounds dubious to me, but whatever. One wishes them well, but it's not likely, and who's going to pay for all this?
http://www.cnn.com/2014/01/05/health...ead/?hpt=hp_t2

[Aviatrix]

That's a very good thing, but she should face criminal charges, too. What would stop her from moving away and reopening her business elsewhere in a town where nobody had ever heard of her?

That's what I was just thinking, Mammy. I hope that the State of Hawaii will yank this woman's dentistry license so that she can't open up shop somewhere else.

That poor baby.