Dentist: Require better training in use of sedatives for young patients

From Jim Moret
CNN Correspondent

LOS ANGELES, California (CNN) -- When Karen Hess brought her son Jonathan to a dentist two years ago to have some baby teeth extracted and cavities filled, she never imagined he would leave in an ambulance.

The 8-year-old stopped breathing after being given the sedative chloral hydrate to help relax him before the procedure.

"They were on the sidewalk giving him CPR, which is hard to see as a mother," said Hess. "I still have nightmares over it. That's something a parent should never, ever have to see."

Jonathan survived, but with brain damage.

"He can't even write his name. He can't hold a pencil or crayon," said Hess of her 10-year-old son.

Although there are no national figures available on just how many children have been harmed by oral sedation, five children in California have died since 1991 after being given chloral hydrate prior to their dental work.

"I think of the drugs used commonly in pediatric dentistry that chloral hydrate is the one in my mind that sticks out over the last ten years as the drug that has caused the most problems, in part because it may be the drug that is most commonly used," said Dr. John Yagiela, president of the American Society of Dentist Anesthesiologists.

Dr. Peter Hartmann, who sits on the California Dental Board, recently pushed the state to enact legislation that would require dentists to have more training and a special certification before they are allowed to give oral sedatives.

"Oral sedation is required when a child is uncooperative. That might just be a frightened child or a child who has had bad experiences, and there's many levels of sedation," said Hartmann.

More than half of children between the ages of 5 and 9 have cavities that require dental work. The American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry recommends a checklist for parents:

• Ask if a procedure can wait until the child is older.
• Discuss the dentist's past experience in sedating children.
• Ask about the medications that will be used and how the youngster will be monitored.

Karen Hess said she recently reached an out of court settlement with her dentist's insurance carrier. As part of the settlement, the dentist did not admit fault, and Hess agreed not to identify the doctor or discuss the terms of the agreement.

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