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A 9-year-old girl in California suddenly died on the way home from the dentist, where she underwent dental surgery and was placed under anesthesia, according to a tragic report.
The child appeared to be fine following the dental surgery she underwent at Dreamtime Dentistry in Vista, Calif. on March 18. She was moved to a recovery room after the surgery before being discharged and sent home with her parents, according to the medical examiner’s summary report obtained by NBC San Diego.
On the way home, the child fell asleep in the car. When her family checked on her later, she was unresponsive.
She was taken to Rady Children’s Hospital in San Diego for help, but was pronounced dead shortly after arriving.
The medical examiner is still working to determine the cause of death and it’s unclear if the dental procedure played a role.
Experts warned that it’s too soon to jump to conclusions, but also noted the inherent risks that come with procedures that require sedation, especially for children.
“When a child goes to sleep with general anesthesia, it’s a much more riskier procedure than with an adult,” retired dentist Dr. Michael Davis told NBC San Diego.
Children require lower dosages of medications like anesthesia because of factors ranging from their size to their metabolic rate. There are some outliers, though — for instance, in many cases, natural redheads are more resistant to anesthesia because of a common genetic mutation they carry, according to UCLA Health.
Dr. Ryan Watkins, the only dentist at the practice who performs sedation procedures, was previously investigated by the Dental Board of California in 2016 after an adult patient nearly died after an unnecessary drug was administered during a procedure, according to documents obtained by NBC San Diego.
As a result, Watkins was placed on probation from 2020 to 2023.
