Dental Malpractice in Virginia

What Injuries are Associated with Dental Malpractice in Virginia?

Dental malpractice is associated with a wide range of injuries. Many of them are serious and debilitating. They include the following:

• Paralysis in the jaw, tongue or lips. Loss of feeling may be permanent
• Permanent damage to the jawline
• Excessive bleeding
• Cracked teeth
• Dangerous gum infections from unclean instruments
• Holes and other damage to the gums
• Loss of the sense of taste
• Heart attacks from improperly administered anesthesia

Deaths Under Anesthesia During Dental Treatment

One of the most tragic consequences of dental malpractice is the death of a patient under anesthesia. Children are the most vulnerable age group who undergo routine dental procedures.

The death of a three-year-old girl in Hawaii highlighted the potential dangers of dental treatment under anesthetic.

In early 2019, a state jury found a former dentist not guilty of manslaughter and other criminal charges related to the death of the three-year-old in her care.  The child stopped breathing and went into cardiac arrest after she received sedative drugs during a procedure at the dentist’s office. The girl remained in a coma for a month before she died in a hospice on Jan. 3, 2014.

Honolulu Chief Medical Examiner Christopher Happy said the child “likely died because of local anesthesia and sedatives administered to the child at the time of the dental procedure.” Attorneys acting for the dentist claimed the toddler’s mother did not inform the dentist the child had been diagnosed with an upper respiratory infection just weeks before her appointment. They said the residual effects of the illness was to cause the girl’s vocal cords to close under sedation, cutting off oxygen. The girl’s death led to the passing of a law that increases the oversight of dentists who administer anesthesia in Hawaii.  

There is a lack of transparency over the deaths of children during dental treatment. An estimated 100,000 to 250,000 pediatric dental sedations are performed each year. The drugs used can have serious effects like oxygen depletion and even death. However, no data is kept on the number of fatalities caused by pediatric dental anesthesia.