Routine dental exams are very common among toddlers and just recently a three-year-old girl died after a fatal reaction to anesthesia. Daleyza Avila-Hernandez visited her dentist to have two teeth capped and two teeth removed, a procedure that turned deadly to everyone’s surprise.
According to David Thompson, an office administrator at the Children’s Dental Surgery Center in Stockton, California where the procedure took place, the child was stabilized before being taken by ambulance to Saint Joseph’s Hospital, where she later died. Her mother was told that her daughter’s heart had stopped after being sedated.
“We have had tens of thousands of children here and this a first. This is not an easy thing to deal with. I’ve been doing this for almost ten years now; I’ve never seen a situation like this,” says Thompson. “We’re committed to helping kids every single day. That’s our mission, that’s why we’re here. It’s risky; not everyone wants to do it.”
