12-year old boy dies from toothache.....
 

WASHINGTON - Twelve-year-old Deamonte Driver died of a toothache Sunday.

A routine, $80 tooth extraction might have saved him.

If his mother had been insured.

If his family had not lost its Medicaid.

If Medicaid dentists weren't so hard to find.

If his mother hadn't been focused on getting a dentist for his brother, who had six rotted teeth.

By the time Deamonte's own aching tooth got any attention, the bacteria from the abscess had spread to his brain, doctors said. After two operations and more than six weeks of hospital care, the Prince George's County boy died.

Deamonte's death and the ultimate cost of his care, which could total more than $250,000, underscore an often-overlooked concern in the debate over universal health coverage: dental care.

Some poor children have no dental coverage at all. Others travel three hours to find a dentist willing to take Medicaid patients and accept the incumbent paperwork. And some, including Deamonte's brother, get in for a tooth cleaning but have trouble securing an oral surgeon to fix deeper problems.

In spite of efforts to change the system, fewer than one in three children in Maryland's Medicaid program received any dental service at all in 2005, the latest year for which figures are available from the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

?They know there is a problem?
The figures were worse elsewhere in the region. In the District, 29.3 percent got treatment, and in Virginia, 24.3 percent were treated, although all three jurisdictions say they have done a better job reaching children in recent years.

"I certainly hope the state agencies responsible for making sure these children have dental care take note so that Deamonte didn't die in vain," said Laurie Norris, a lawyer for the Baltimore-based Public Justice Center who tried to help the Driver family. "They know there is a problem, and they have not devoted adequate resources to solving it."

Maryland officials emphasize that the delivery of basic care has improved greatly since 1997, when the state instituted a managed care program, and in 1998, when legislation that provided more money and set standards for access to dental care for poor children was enacted.

About 900 of the state's 5,500 dentists accept Medicaid patients, said Arthur Fridley, last year's president of the Maryland State Dental Association. Referring patients to specialists can be particularly difficult.

Fewer than 16 percent of Maryland's Medicaid children received restorative services -- such as filling cavities -- in 2005, the most recent year for which figures are available.

For families such as the Drivers, the systemic problems are compounded by personal obstacles: lack of transportation, bouts of homelessness, erratic telephone and mail service.

The Driver children have never received routine dental attention, said their mother, Alyce Driver. The bakery, construction and home health-care jobs she has held have not provided insurance. The children's Medicaid coverage had temporarily lapsed at the time Deamonte was hospitalized. And even with Medicaid's promise of dental care, the problem, she said, was finding it.

When Deamonte got sick, his mother had not realized that his tooth had been bothering him. Instead, she was focusing on his younger brother, 10-year-old DaShawn, who "complains about his teeth all the time," she said.

Thats gotta be a painfull way to die.

I've heard of that happening before..nothing worse than a toothache

hehe bad new here

ya... in a prior, uninsured life, I dealt with a toothache for a couple of weeks before going in to see a dentist...

When I woke up in the middle of the night from the pain, and had to take 5 shots of grain alcohol just to make the throbbing settle down enough that I could pass out from the booze... I realized I should probably consult a professional.

Doc said I coulda died had I waited a lot longer.

Sad about the boy. :(

As Shakespeare wrote:

"For there was never yet philosopher That could endure the toothache patiently"

Stuff like that is why Americans should not complain so much about paying taxes for welfare etc... our taxes actually save a lot of lives.

Plus most of the kids that benefit grow up to get jobs and pay all the taxes back "with interest" over their life time.

Just think; what if all the money for the Iraq war had been put in an interest bearing trust in the largest banks in the world for ten years. Then the interest after that could be used for free health care. (maybe)

Okay, I understand the problems of our health system ... but you have to put some responsibility on the parent for this one.

Maybe there is a history of dental problems in their family, but they should able to accomodate for this. No sugars, extra brushings, etc.

No kid should have rotten teeth ...

Nuff said :thumbsup

No kid should go without mediacl of any sort, or school.

wow, that is so sad. :(

i remember a friend of mine from way back in the day didn't want to get an antibiotic filled because it was almost $100. after the pharmacist explained that the infection could go into his brain he changed his tune.

scary. i've been putting off some dental problems because i hate going to the dentist. never though an abscess could kill you. thats horrible what happened to the boy. obviously the mother didn't do much about making sure they at least brushed and flossed if the other has rotting teeth. though even here in canada where health care is covered, you still have to pay for your own dental, unless you are on welfare.

If she just would have had her children practice good dental hygiene, this would have had a different ending. Sad.

so would a $1 toothbrush

owwww thats horrible

Why why why the fuck must health be so fucking commercial.

Why the flying fistfuck must medics earn so much money ?
Anybody else is working his ass off for minimum wage.

After 30 years still no cure for a simple weak virus like hiv/aids ?
After 200 years still no cure for all kinds of cancer ?

Why not ?

Because the motherfucking economy don't allow it.
That's why, it's fucking big biznezz to sell condoms to prevent aids.

It's big money selling drugs to treath HIV infected people. Why should you bring a medicine on the market what costs ?? 2000 - 10.000 dollar when you can sell drugs for returning patients a 1000 dollar a month the rest of his or her HIV life!!

You don't need an accountant for that !
Think about it, we are screwed on daily base!

You can have bad teeth even if you eat healthy. My brother had to have extensive work done on his teeth when he was about 8. They said that his teeth were eating themselves away. I can't remember the name of the condition, but it is not from what he ate. My mother never let us eat a lot of candy or drink soda. Some children just have bad teeth no matter what they do.

what a shame poor kid

I dunno about that. Both my parents had horrible, rotten teeth and I ended up the same way. I didn?t drink coffee, I didn?t eat a lot of acidic foods/drink a lot of acidid drinks; I brushed twice a day and after major meals; I used mouth wash; I got my teeth cleaned regularly. The only thing that I didn?t do on a daily basis was floss ? nothing I did changed the outcome of my teeth.

And there you have it. Daily flossing is a vital part of maintaining good dental hygiene.

Yeah, right. I'm sure all the other stuff I did for my teeth meant nothing -- it's that all mighty flossing that does the trick. Brushing? Nada, that's just what they tell you to do to get that mind-controlling fluoride from the toothpaste into your bloodstream. Mouth wash? Nope, it doesn't kill any bacteria or anything, that's just for drinking and getting drunk. Getting my teeth cleaned once every three month? That was just for fun.

Idiot.

Ya, because the food they could afford probably didn't have much sugar in it...
:upsidedow

that is horrible :(

So sad... in the 21. century?

wow this is very sad story.. poor boy:(

sad :( poor kid :(

More poor children!

Right on the nose with that one, Kristin.

poor boy...

they forgot: "If his parent paid more attention to how he brushed his teeth"

Poor kid. One of the most stupid ways to die.

i had abscess few weeks ago , Dentist told me how deadly that shhit can be

we are spending billions on this iraq war.......... use that money for some healthcaree

how do u know if u have an abcess tooth? i got a chipped molar in the back the wisdom tooth grew into it and broke it, it hurt like hell before now i have no pain at all cause i think the exposed root healed up. Anyway i put it off because im lazy and forgot about it really but reading this shit scares me.

hehe?







AAAAAAAH JUST STFU :321GFY

Water is cheaper than any other drink ...

My son is allergic to dairy products like I was growing up and while I am sure I am more financially stable than this case, I still have to make the necessary accomodations to help him. He still has rashes from it, so I do understand it can't be completely fixed.

But eight teeth? I'd really be seeking different methods after a few teeth went bad.