Mom Jailed for Son's Bad Teeth

[The Straight Story]

Mom Jailed for Son's Bad Teeth

Afternoon Update with Monica Malpass
WPVI By Monica Malpass

A mother in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania is behind bars today for not taking her young son to the dentist.

Police arrested 43-year-old Eneida Resto and charged her with child endangerment. She's behind bars on $25,000 bail. Her 5-year-old foster son had to have 12 teeth pulled, including all his molars after complaining of pains and headaches for a year. The child's dentist called police. He says 2-3 years of neglect led to the rotten teeth. And that if no action had been taken, the child would have been hospitalized for up to 6 months from abscesses.


http://abclocal.go.com/wpvi/story?section=local&id=4557605

[ThomCat]

1. I understand that many people fear dentists

and others consider dentists be an avoidable expense, but damn...

What kind of parent ignores complaints of pain like that? And what must his breath have been like? What the hell did she think was going to happen in this kid's mouth if she kept ignoring this?

[Midlodemocrat]

3. I'm one of those, but I make sure my kids go every 6 months.

My son goes more often because he has braces.

[Jawja]

32. In the long run, dental expense

is not avoidable. I say that because I DID avoid it for years and now it's either pay the price or lose all of my teeth. I am paying the price.

[bleedingheart]

2. a foster son??? Where was CYS to monitor this child's care?

By PA law, this kid falls under either the CHIP program or Medicaid for his healthcare. In PA, you must take your child to a dentist and a doctor at least once a year or else those service agencies will nag you to death.

So...was the kid placed with her and he had bad teeth? Or did he develop this problem while living with her?

[Nikki Stone 1]

5. All excellent questions.

Probably a long series of bad foster parents.

[Warpy]

9. Overworked and understaffed

Most social workers nationwide are drowning in cases.

Often they have time to see if the house is clean enough to prevent disease and the kid's getting enough to eat with no obvious bruises. That's about it for the average home visit. Unless somebody notices a problem and drops a dime, nothing will get done.

Some dimwit obviously thought the kid would have YEARS before his teeth started to give him problems. Bet they were drinking fluoride free water.

[bleedingheart]

17. the thing that is supposed to help is that

the Medicaid system sends out these automated letters to parents to let them know that "Junior hasn't had his yearly doctor's visit"....and they know this through billing records. So in these cases...the caseworkers don't have to worry about it since it is handled through the medical side of the system.

[aquaman]

19. Please be careful about using the term Social Worker......

Most of the workers in child protective services, foster care case workers, etc are not social workers. I once did an internship in a Department of Social Services when I was working on my masters in social work. Not one employee in the agency had a social work degree. To be called a social worker one must have a bachelors or masters degree in social work and be licensed within their state by the social work licensing board. Most of the people in these types of positions are not licensed and do not have a degree in social work so therefore are not social workers. If a social worker pulled some of the crap described in the original post their professional license would be yanked fast.

[noonwitch]

33. Foster care has federal guidelines about what degrees one must have

I have a bachelor of social work and am a foster care worker. To work in that program, one's degree has to be in social work, sociology, psychology, criminal justice or counseling. We don't have to be licensed, however, for which I am grateful because a license is not cheap.

CPS workers don't have to have their degree in any specific program, and some have a law enforcement backround before coming to CPS. They are primarily investigators, though, not placement specialists.

Either way, a licensed foster parent has medicaid opened for them. A relative caretaker is eligible in MI to get medicaid for a kid placed with them, but they apply at the welfare office, not through FC.

[aquaman]

49. My point is this......

When news items come out regarding these types of issues there is often a blanket term used to describe the workers that are involved with these situations; this term often is social workers. A person with sociology, or psychology degree is fine for these positions, however, they are not social workers and should not be referred to as such. Every state has a little different take on this but in my state, you could not even refer to yourself as a social worker until you receive your professional license and of course have a social work degree. Also, as a social worker in my state, getting your license is generally not an option at the majority of agencies. To work there as a social worker you have to, period, it reduces their liability if something goes down. As far as CPS workers. I worked with people who had "education" degrees that were CPS caseworkers. Few had any educational backgrounds that related to the field.

[Wiley50]

55. I'm on SSI, have Medcaid but no Dental Coverage

My teeth are a mess but I can't afford
to see a dentist out of pocket on $603 a month

I wonder how bad they have to get
before it becomes a medical emergency
that medicaid will have to pay for

We have a Dentistry school clinic here
but even they want over a $100 just for an extraction

Blame repuke cuts to Medicaid

[Sgent]

80. True

but the Medicaid cuts don't affect benefits for children which are very different than the benefits offered to SSI recipients.

[Flying Dream Blues]

56. Thank you, Aquaman. That's an important distinction (fellow SWer here)

[aquaman]

69. Your welcome,

Huge pet peeve of mine. :hi:

[Sgent]

79. Differs by agency

in Mississippi, every case worker (for children) for DHS is a LSW or higher (Licensed Social Worker), which in this state requires a bachelors or higher.

Although there are no LCSW's due to thte fact that they can double (or better) their pay by going independent practice the second they complete the boards.

[SmokingJacket]

48. Obviously I don't know where the kid has spent most of his life, but

Bethlehem has had fluoride since the 70's. I grew up without fluoridated water and my kids don't drink it either, and none of us has ever had a cavity. I'm not sure the calculus is that simple.

Poor nutrition probably has a lot to do with it, and genetics.

Aren't foster parents PAID to take care of their kids?? Perhaps not enough, certainly. I for one would sleep better at night if the country's foster care budgets were doubled and the defense budget halved.

[dddem]

82. true,

but many people are drinking bottled water. I personally use a filter, and I'm curious, I never thought about it, but does it filter out flouride?

[sarcasmo]

62. Privatize, Privatize, Privatize. That is the slogan of these Idiots who

currently run this Country. The Republicans will never staff enough Social Workers. If the Democrats loose in 08 this Country is finished.

[Lone_Star_Dem]

10. That seems odd to me

Also, the other article that I had read about this never said anything about him being a foster child, but referred to her as his mother. If I recall the only mention was that he was now placed in foster care.

Give me a second to find it and I'll post a link.

Found the link.

http://www.mcall.com/news/local/bethlehem/all-4teethsep13,0,923530.story?coll=all-newslocalbethlehem-hed

I reread it and still don't see where he was in foster care prior to this incident. :shrug:

[RobinA]

53. Not to Side

with the idiot parent in this case, but it does bring up a serious problem in PA. Ever try to find a dentist who will take MA? Few and far between. I fought this battle for a parent and never did come up with a satisfactory answer. She ended up having to pay out-of-pocket money she did not have.

[bleedingheart]

65. that is actually horrible...and I know what you are talking about

the hurdles that folks have to go through is insane.

[lonestarnot]

4. OMG! Terrible in all aspects. Fear of dentist, no money for dentist?

Poor little child. :cry:

[JHB]

6. Take your pick, folks:

1) Mom's a wacko of one sort or another;

2) Mom's poor, struggling, and has no support (and maybe even no education about dental care)

3) ass-covering "Other"

[warrens]

7. Oh, gimme a break

JAIL? What she did is pretty bad, but if no one has noticed, dentists are incredibly expensive. I wonder how the kid's teeth got that bad in the first place, but this is not a jail offense. No way.

[ThomCat]

13. Anything that gets so bad

that it could require 6 months in a hospital is criminal neglect.

I think it definitely deserves some jail time.

[Thickasabrick]

59. I disagree. Take the child away - which should have been done

months ago.

[Ravenseye]

67. Not for kids in PA

All kids qualify for CHIP in Pennsylvania, and how much you make determines how much you pay. It would probably be less than 30 a month for full health care coverage including dental for her kids, if not 100% free. So that's not really an excuse.

Still I agree. Jail seems harsh.

[Momgonepostal]

73. When your teeth are so bad they cause other health problems...

it's pretty serious. She let things go way beyond the point where things could be fixed with a visit or two to the dentist. That poor kid had to have ALL his molars pulled. And he's only 5.

A severe, untreated infection in the head, whether it be a tooth abscess or ear infection or sinus infection, can cross over into the brain and cause some very serious problems. An older family member of mine just went through this, and it required brain surgery to fix, and well as many weeks of IV antibiotics.

[Eric J in MN]

8. This is disturbing, but I don't think putting the woman behind bars...

...is going to improve the situation.

This should have been handled a civil matter, perhaps while the kid lives with someone else.

[Warpy]

11. Decay that bad can be life threatening

This is called criminal neglect.

[Eric J in MN]

14. Just because this can be pursued with criminal justice...

...doesn't mean that is in the best interest of the woman and the kid.

[Horse with no Name]

20. Poor nutrition, poor hygiene, and simply being poor

May have contributed to this.
Before jumping on the bandwagon to crucify this mother, I would love to know if she had dental insurance.
Would also like to point out that I knew a woman that was on Medicaid.
It limited WHICH dentists her children could visit. The waiting lists to get in were sometimes 6-8 months for these dentists. When she finally did get an appointment, it was cancelled 3 times before actually seeing the dentist.
The dentist used laughing gas...but she commented that it took a "very short" time to get the teeth repaired.
A few years later, when she had graduated from school and had health and dental insurance, she took her children to a GOOD dentist.
Her children had numerous cavities and surprise of all surprises? The teeth that the Medicaid dentist had done didn't seem to have ever been repaired. The GOOD dentist said it would be difficult to prove, as the fillings could have been faulty and might have just fallen out, but his best guess is that they were never done.
People take advantage of poor people everyday.
It's hard to say by the information given if this was the situation, but at 5 years old with teeth rotted this badly, it almost makes you wonder if this child didn't have some underlying gum disease or something that had never been detected.

[malaise]

66. My thoughts exactly n/t

[Momgonepostal]

76. This is a foster mother

who gets money every month to care for this and possibly other children. I imagine the child has some kind of state medical and dental care. My children have been on CA's state dental plan for children. It pays 100% for standard, preventative care, as well as for sealants and fillings. While I can sympathize with the possible lack of good dental care, I find it hard to believe this was the fault of a busy or incompetetent prior dentist. This is more likely the result of years of in home neglect.

[Horse with no Name]

77. There is a discrepancy

From what I am reading, the child lived with his mother.
California has a better plan than most states. As I said, Texas is very hard to even find a dentist that accepts Medicaid and they do NOT cover sealants at all. I know there are other states that are just as bad.
Most dentists don't recomment children be seen until they are 3 or 4, this child was only 5.
I hardly see that years of home neglect would apply.:shrug:
I am not defending the mother--would just like to know all of the particulars first.

[qanda]

26. So can allowing children to become obese

But no one is putting all the parents of overweight children in jail.

[Warpy]

36. Perhaps I left out the operative word

It should have read "immediately life threatening."

Obesity, while regrettable, doesn't fall into that category.

Parents can control visits to the dentist. Obesity is often out of their control. Kids are awfully good at getting junk food outside the home, and many refuse to exercise. If they're thrown outside and told to play, they sit.

[bleedingheart]

18. abcesses can kill

if you let your teeth get severely abcessed, you can actually get other problems.

My sister-in-law is a nurse and she has seen cases where people died of heart infections due to untreated bad teeth...the abcess and infection spread and the patient ends up dying...and that is no joke.

[Sugar Smack]

29. I've heard the same about heart infections and disease.

[Lance_Boyle]

46. there is strong positive correlation between oral hygiene and

cardiac health. Bad teeth + time/neglect --> bad ticker.

[OnceUponTimeOnTheNet]

63. I had a serious long term abcess I fought

for a year. I finally gave up when two more old root cannels acted up, Asked the Doc to yank em all and give me a bridge. Told him I was getting concerned about my heart health. He pulled em the next day.

No more pain! Now, I can not imagine being 5 and having to go thru such a painful period. Are the meds ultilized for a 5 y/o's pain somewhat limited? They must have put him under to get it all done.

[aquaman]

12. As a clinical social worker, I must say......

"2-3 years of neglect"? Generally foster care agencies (at least in my state) must keep tabs on foster children once a month, face to face. In other words, this kind of neglect should be obvious and should have been picked up on by a foster care worker. So someone has some explaining to do. Somebody was not doing their job. I will not even start on the foster mother.

[Lone_Star_Dem]

15. I think he is her natural son not foster son

I've read two other articles on this now and they both referred to him as her son, not foster child.

In both they only mention fostering when they say he is now placed in foster care.

Mother charged in boy's neglect
Five-year-old's teeth rotting. Victim can't eat solid food, is in pain and has only eight teeth left.
http://www.nj.com/news/expresstimes/pa/index.ssf?/base/news-7/115812021871540.xml&coll=2

Mom faces charges for son's dental decay
Dentist pulled 12 of the 5-year-old boy's teeth. Child is in foster care.
http://www.mcall.com/news/local/bethlehem/all-4teethsep13,0,923530.story?coll=all-newslocalbethlehem-hed

[bleedingheart]

21. thanks for checking into that...but it still makes it really odd

PA has a really good medicaid program and poor children can get both medical, dental and eye care. Granted...I am assuming they are poor (which is wrong) , so this could be a middle class or even wealthy family too.

[RobinA]

58. But....

PA has a horrible shortage of dentists who will take MA.

Plus, just because the care is available doesn't mean parents will use it. I have been a social worker (BS in social work, MS in psychology for all degree nitpickers) and trying to get some parents to take kids to the Dr. even for obvious problems and when MA is available can be quite a challenge. I have tried with some degree of lack of success to convince parents to take kids to the Dr. for developmental problems, obvious teeth problems, Hep C, speech problems, sinus problems, chronic headaches, vaccinations, undescended testicles and other ailments too numerous to mention. You can't throw every parent in jail who doesn't adhere to current standards for child health care. All you can do is talk yourself blue in the face, make sure they are aware of available resources, help them access avaiable resources, and try to take the kid yourself if the situation seems dire (I did this with the Hep C kid, only to be lectured by the Dr. about how our agency should court order Mom to take her mental health meds. Hello, this is America, the child wasn't in immediate danger, we don't do that here).

[bleedingheart]

22. thanks for checking into that...but it still makes it really odd

PA has a really good medicaid program and poor children can get both medical, dental and eye care. Granted...I am assuming they are poor (which is wrong) , so this could be a middle class or even wealthy family too.

[Lone_Star_Dem]

24. The mother said she was aware of the problem

But she thought that since they were just baby teeth they would fall out anyway.

It sounds more like ignorance may have played a role to me.

[bleedingheart]

35. that is just so bizarre....

ignorance seems about right...

[tallahasseedem]

16. She has no excuse for the cash aspect.

Foster children are under medicaid and plenty of Dentists can be found that will accept it

[Horse with no Name]

25. You don't live in rural Texas

There is maybe 1-2 dentists in a 400 sq. mile area that MAY take Medicaid after months of waiting.
If your situation in your state is better, then I applaud it. It sucks here.:shrug:

[tallahasseedem]

31. I completely agree with that.

Bethlehem, PA is a completely different story though.

[RayOfHope]

30. I'm not sure how it is where you are or in PA

but in my state it is very difficult to find a dentist that will take Medicaid.

[RobinA]

60. It Is Extremely Difficult

in PA. I've fought this fight right down to trying to get the insurer to cover a non-covered dentist who was close to the child's house. Mom was MR and couldn't take transportation and didn't have any of her own. The only dentist in my county at the time was an hour away by transportation (one bus a day). The insurer's respone was "tough luck, there's a dentist in the county and she'll just have to find a way to get there."

[NorthernSpy]

23. thank God for baby teeth...

Given that the child is just 5 years old, many or most of these would have been baby teeth.

So he does have shot at having good permanent teeth, assuming that he gets proper care from now on.

I think that too many foster "parents" treat fostering as little more than an easy way to get money from the government. Such people are not too far removed from the notorious "baby-farmers" of the past.

[tallahasseedem]

28. Primary teeth

are extremely important for speech patterns and space maintainers for permanent teeth. Proper care for them is crucial.

[NorthernSpy]

34. yeah, no duh...

The thing is, it happens to be little late for this particular kid to achieve pristine baby teeth, given that more than half of them have already been pulled out due to irremediable decay.

If he receives good dental care from now on, he has a chance of developing good permanent teeth. So yeah, I'm glad for his sake that all is not lost.

[OnceUponTimeOnTheNet]

64. It's abit relieving they were mostly primary teeth

I hadn't thought of that. A niece of mine had a daughter whose baby teeth were just awful, now she's a teen with truly beautiful teeth. Big White Chicklet Smile!
Hope the same for this little one.

[Clark2008]

27. First - this was the natural son

Second - I'm doubting seriously that the neglect was intentional, but probably due to a lack of dental insurance and/or funds to pay for a dentist.

Of course, she could be in jail for failure to pay, but most dentists won't let you out the door until you pay. Heck, most of them require payment up front before they even do work on your teeth.

BTW, my son lost his fifth tooth last night. He's 7 and still believes in the Tooth Fairy, Santa and the Easter Bunny. :7

[Lone_Star_Dem]

37. Congrats to your son on #5 falling out!

And I agree, I don't think she intended to harm the child. She had said that she thought the teeth would just fall out. Sounds more like she wasn't properly educated than that she was trying to harm her son.

[NorthernSpy]

39. " The boy, who is Resto's foster son, had been complaining of pains..."

http://abclocal.go.com/wpvi/story?section=local&id=4557061

The news reports on this story say that the child is Resto's foster son.

Second - I'm doubting seriously that the neglect was intentional, but probably due to a lack of dental insurance and/or funds to pay for a dentist.

I'm going to have to demur on this point. Basic oral hygiene is within everyone's grasp. Dental floss, fluoride-containing toothpaste, and sugarless gum are all pretty cheap. It costs nothing to drink water instead of soda, and milk is subsidized for poor children. These things may not prevent absolutely all tooth decay, but they can prevent the kind of catastrophic decay that this poor kid was suffering from.

My family had very little money when I was growing up, and I got a grand total of two dentist visits back then. But I never had a cavity. My mom was always very scrupulous about oral hygiene, and I'm grateful for that. It's too bad that this kid didn't have anyone who was willing to give him even minimal care.

[Lone_Star_Dem]

44. Only this one report does

The rest say she was his mother and that he was placed in foster care after this event. I have a couple of links to other stories in my posts above that show her as his natural mother, or you can google it and you'll see for yourself.

I think they may have made a mistake in this story in regards to the maternal relationship. I suppose it happens.

[NorthernSpy]

52. some stories specify "foster", and some don't; whatever she is...

... she sure leaves a lot to be desired:

Resto allegedly told a county investigator she knew her son suffered headaches and oral pain since summer 2005. But she figured his baby teeth would fall out, solving the problem, police said.

Dr. Talal Noumaeh told the investigator Feb. 10 that the boy was a patient in his office Dec. 12, when he noticed severe cavities on front and back teeth. But Resto never returned to get her son treatment, the dentist reported.

Noumaeh told the investigator that if the boy went untreated, he would feel excruciating pain, lose his teeth and possibly get an infection.

Resto eventually brought her son to Prusack on Feb. 17, but by then the boy was in such pain he could not eat, police said. Prusack told an investigator that two to three years of no dental care caused the "advanced" stage of decay.

She knew about it the whole time. That's just horrid.

[RayOfHope]

70. Some kids just have terrible teeth, no matter what you do

aside from this story...

My 4 yo had 3 mini root canals, 3 crowns, and 5 fillings done this summer. The enamel on his back teeth didn't form properly. We now go to the dentist every 3 months instead of every 6. I brushed his teeth twice a day, but the pediatric dentist said in those circumstances there is only so much you can do.

Since the amount of work was so enormous, it was an outpatient procedure done under general anesthesia at the hosptial. $1400 to the dentist (due in full a week before the procedure), $800 to the anesthesiologst, and $2000 to the hospital. We have horrible insurance, and without help from my family, it would have put us into terrible debt.

[NorthernSpy]

78. it goes without saying that a person with inherent tooth defects...

... may need a lot of dental work in any case, even if they try very hard to take good care of their teeth. But the article didn't mention this as a factor for this little boy. The dentist chalked the problems up to neglect, and the behavior of the foster mother/natural mother/whatever she is also strongly suggests neglect and indifference.

We have horrible insurance, and without help from my family, it would have put us into terrible debt.

Isn't it insane that dental problems are rarely regarded as the serious medical issues that they are? Insurance companies seem to regard teeth as being sort of extraneous to your body and your health -- an attitude that is a holdover from the time when people simply assumed that early tooth loss was natural and unavoidable.

I hope your son's procedures were a success, and that his permanent teeth will come in strong and healthy.

[Midlodemocrat]

38. How did this child's teeth get so bad in five years?

My children went to the dentist for the first time at 3. So, logically, they would have gone four times before turning five. Of course, we brushed prior to that, but it seems to me from reading the article that the child wouldn't brush because of pain from the decay.

I wonder if there is some genetic cause here that hasn't been addressed? I am having trouble understanding how the teeth could get that decayed in that short of a span of time.

[Clark2008]

40. Good point.

My son has only been three times because up until this year, I could not afford it but once a year. Honestly. I was a single mother without any child support coming in and no dental insurance, but there's no way his teeth could have gotten this bad even if he hadn't gone at all. I mean, this child is only five. Did he eat candy all day and NEVER brush?

My son's school has dentists come in and check and his teeth have never shown any signs of decay. They would let me know if I needed to get my son to a dentist soon. It looks like someone, somewhere would have noticed this. Bad breath alone would have told others there was a problem. It does sound like it was something more than candy and bad teeth-brushing habits, doesn't it?

[Lone_Star_Dem]

41. I've seen this before

Not as bad but pretty close. Often it comes from laying the child down with a bottle at night after they have begun to get their baby teeth. Combine that with neglect to oral hygiene on the parents part and you get a child with a mouth full of very bad teeth.

[NorthernSpy]

43. it's a combination of things...

Some factors that you might see in a neglected child:

A mineral-poor diet (your teeth are constantly drawing on the calcium/mineral content of your saliva).

An oral environment high in acids (decay products of unremoved sugars).

A heavy, persistent plaque-coating on the teeth (harbors a heavy load of decay organisms).

Porous, too-soft enamel (lack of fluoride).


Tooth "decay" is primarily a demineralization process -- at least at first. And it can progress very rapidly if the above conditions remain in place for extended periods of time.

[tallahasseedem]

51. Calcium is absorbed by the teeth systemically.

[NorthernSpy]

54. yes, and teeth also need saliva saturated with calcium phosphate...

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/medicalnews.php?newsid=8881

:)

[RayOfHope]

71. Bad teeth aren't exclusive to the poor

Bad enamel is hereditary (so says my son's pediatric dentist). There are times that a good diet and brushing twice a day won't prevent some decay (see my post above).

[Blue_In_AK]

42. Good grief, I never went to the dentist until I was 10 or so...

My parents couldn't afford it even back then in the Dark Ages.

[azmouse]

45. Same here.

My parents couldn't afford the dentist when I was a young kid so I didn't see a dentist til I was 11.
But my teeth are fine and I'm 45. I have them all and they look great!

Must have been something else going on to make the little boy's teeth get bad so quick.

[Blue_In_AK]

50. That's what I'm thinking...

We have a very bad problem with dental care here in Alaska for the Native kids out in the villages. A program has been proposed for dental health aides to go out there and take care of the kids, but it's been fought tooth (haha, no pun intended) and nail by the American Dental Association. They say no one should get "second-rate" dental care, but they sure don't seem to be rushing in to fill the gap. (Another inadvertent dental reference - I crack myself up.)


http://www.usmedicine.com/article.cfm?articleID=1157&issueID=79

[NorthernSpy]

47. I was 13 when I first when to the dentist...

It went like this:

X-rays

Scaling and cleaning

Fluoride gel

"Congratulations, you have no cavities, blah blah fluoride blah don't eat or drink for thirty minutes, goodbye."


"Poor" does NOT equal "neglectful".

[Vinca]

57. We need to know the complete story.

My mother died when I was a little kid and my dad, a typical 1950's father, didn't have a clue what to do with my brother and me. My mother took me to the dentist to have my baby teeth checked. My dad, in his grief, kind of neglected things for about 10 years and didn't teach us to care for our teeth. I was a little kid with a badly infected tooth who was rushed to a dentist on a weekend by a visiting aunt. My dad was just a lousy mom.

[Matariki]

61. Jailed for poverty is more likely n/t

[mtnester]

68. Here are some $$$ numbers to think about...

Resin Composite 1S posterior - $152.00 (remove old mercury filling first)
Resin Composite 2S posterior - $195.00 x 2 = $390.00 (remove old mercury fillings first)

For anyone interested in other procedures:

Root canal therapy - bicuspid - $687.00
Crown-porcelain/ceramic subsr - $888.88
Crown buildup, include any pins - $222.00

Perio scales & root pin - 4+ per quad - $400.00 x4 (whole mouth) = $1600.00

Total for above - $$3948.00

This straight from my own bill from the last week in August. I did not include my sedation, since I am the one fearful of the dentist, but if you must know it was $300.00 for oral conscious sedation and 4 hours in the chair. Some of my problems are gumline decay and enamel breakage (I am of the tetracycline generation).

I do have dental insurance, however, it only covers a MAXIMUM of $1.000.00 annually. So, the second half of my mouth (remove old mercury filings) and deal with some newer decay in weird places next summer will be:

One Resin composite 1S posterior - $152.00
Five Resin composites 2S posterior -$975.00
Two Onlay - porcelain/ceram 3 surface - $1776.00
Oral conscious sedation - $300.00

Grand total left to do in my mouth - $2903.00

Some of this is my fault due to extreme fear of dentist, but all I wanted to do was share just how much resin composites are, and since it is RARE that a dentist will put anything in but a resin composite...well...my sister and her son do not have dental...although they live on next to nothing, they make too much to qualify for free dental care.

Me...I have to get these fillings out of my mouth since I can TASTE the dang metal...and it scares me.

[RayOfHope]

72. Also, for a child that young the work would be outpatient at a hospital

so add anesthesiologist and hospital fees, which will total at least $2400, quite possibly more.

[Horse with no Name]

74. Just today, I took my oldest daughter to the oral surgeon

to have four wisdom teeth extracted.

General Anesthesia: $270.00
Removal of 1,16,17,32: $800.00
IV Medication: $40.00

Grand Total $1110.00

My part was $222.00. Insurance took care of the rest.

It also used up ALL of her dental benefits. No more work until next year.

It is a racket.

[cynatnite]

75. That is bad...

To let it go that long. I'm not sure if the mom should be jailed for that however. Even if I was broke, I would have dragged my kid to every dentist in the area to beg and plead for some help for him.

But we're fortunate to have three dentists in the area that do work on kids for free depending on financial situation. The state covers very little in the way of dental work for kids around here so it's needed.

[politicat]

81. We saw a lot of this in the late 90s; bottle mouth.

It develops like this: child has stopped nursing or taking a bottle most of the time, but at night feels the need, so he gets a bottle. Usually milk, because milk is what's good for babies, right? There's the mistake. The sugars in the milk are a stellar medium in which to grow oral decay bacteria. We saw a lot of kindergarteners with more metal in their mouths than I had five times their age.

Now couple this with inadequate dental care (even if mom had care through CHIP or Medicaid, getting in to see a Medicaid dentist can be nearly impossible - scheduling appointments 6 months in advance, and being lucky if some other emergency doesn't screw up getting there on the right day at the right time...)

I don't think the mother is the problem so much as the utterly abysmal state of public health care.

And as bad as it can be for kids, it's often worse for adults who can't qualify for CHP or Medicaid and are without any recourse. An out of pocket cleaning is 3 weeks groceries, a cavity a rent payment, a root canal can wipe out an empty credit card.