Jun 18, 2007 5:40 pm US/Eastern
Md. Boy's Fatal Toothache Spurs New Legislation
by Suzanne Collins
WASHINGTON (WJZ) ―
A Maryland boy's death from an untreated dental infection has resulted in critics complaining about federal health programs for low income families.
Now, as
Suzanne Collins reports, new legislation has been proposed by a local congressman, which aims at getting more children to the dentist.
Earlier this year, 11-year-old Deamonte Driver of Prince George's County died after a tooth infection spread to his brain.
The Driver family's tragedy helped reveal the fact that few dentists participate in Medicaid and that it is hard for low income families to arrange oral care for children.
"The fact that this little boy died because he could not get dental care is chilling to the conscience and should not be part of the American way of life," said Maryland Congressman Elijah Cummings.
The director of the Dental Clinic at Parkwest in Baltimore said parents are not always aware of how critical dental treatment can be.
"Repetition from parents not having good oral hygiene goes to the children and then the children have no recourse," said Dental Director Dr. Stewart Butler.
New legislation in Congress points out that the Centers for Disease Control found a 15 percent increase in baby tooth decay in the last decade.
Dentist have said that can create a host of other problems.
"We have nutritional problems that can be caused when kids have pain when chewing and swallowing," said Baltimore City Health Commissioner Dr. Josh Sharfstein. "Kids in dental pain don't sleep as well, they do worse in school and it can lead to them dropping out."
The proposed legislation would create a pilot program giving grants to health centers to recruit pediatric dentists and to buy equipment.
"This is the country that can send folks to the moon [however] we thoroughly failed a young 12-year-old boy who was unable to get dental care he needed," said Cummings.
A hearing on Driver's death revealed that the boy's parents had a hard time arranging dental care because they were homeless and found out that dentists who said they accepted Medicaid patients actually did not.
The legislation proposed has been called 'Deamonte's Law' after the deceased boy.
(© MMVII, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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