Some dentists reluctant to treat kids on Medicaid

I don’t know why, other than they have not been reading this blog!  Otherwise they would know exactly how to set it up!

 

May 23, 2011
Dentists Reluctant To Treat Kids On Medicaid, by Maureen Salamon HealthDay Reporter

Dental mills concentrated with nitrous oxide, are you in danger-yes; your children-yes, them too.

 

There is a problem with high levels of exposure to Nitrous Oxice.  Two studies done along with the ADA showed a higher incidence of hepatic, renal and neuralgic disorders among exposed personnel.  More importantly it showed an increase in spontaneous abortions in chairside assistants and the wives of dentists.  It also showed an increase in congenital abnormalities in children of assistants.  These two studies pointed to a problems for females who were pregnant and working in dental offices where nitrous oxide was used.
Cohen et al., 1980; Brodsky et al., 1981

In another study, Swedish midwives exposed to nitrous oxide showed they had trouble getting pregnant if they were exposed to Nitrous Oxide more than 30 times a month. G Axelsson, G Ahlborg, Jr, L Bodin Occup Environ Med. 1996 June; 53(6): 374–378.

Adverse Effects of Nitrous Oxide

Mom of 6 year-old, Jacobi Hill, Plans to Sue VCU Medical Center

 

Mom of 6 year-old Plans to Sue VCU Medical Center - wtvr

RICHMOND, VA (WTVR) - The mother of a 6-year-old boy who died after a dental procedure last May says she plans to sue VCU.

"People say it gets easier day by day. No, it doesn't", says Crystal Lewis.
One year later, Lewis, the mother of 6 year-old Jacobi Hill still wonders why a simple dental procedure killed her son.

"It's always going to be a question in the back of my mind like, what happened, but I guess we'll never know until I get to the bottom of things", she says.

An Intelligible Principle To Restrain Unelected Government Officials

 

An Intelligible Principle To Restrain Unelected Government Officials

Leave out the adjectives and adverbs and it’s informative and shows exactly what is happening from Congress all the way down to your local City Counsel, stopping at state agencies and boards, like your state Dental Board, along the way.

Jenny Olenick died in April. Here is a statement sent to us from Jenny’s mother on May 14, 2011

"During the April 17 Celebration of Jenny's life I told the young people present not to worry about having dental procedures because Jenny's death was a freak accident.
That's what I truly thought at the time. But after learning there are at least 8 other children in the nation who have died as a result of dental procedures in US dental offices within the past 1 1/2 years, I no longer see this as a "freak" accident.
I now look at dental office-related deaths as relatively common, and believe these are needless deaths that could have been prevented.

These children did not have to die. And if we wish to honor these childrens' memories, we need to make certain not one more child dies as a result of having a procedure done in a dentist's office".
Cathy Garger, Mother of Jenny Olenick.

---

17 year old Jenny Olenick dead during oral surgery–April 6, 2011–Freak Accident? Not anymore!
(written Thursday May 12, 2011, prior to receiving the statement from Jenny’s mom.  Blogger was down and was not able to post until today.)
Marriottsville, Maryland

Jennifer Michelle Olenick died April 6, 2010. Jenny went into a coma on March 28, 2011 during a wisdom tooth extraction being performed by Dr. Domenick Coletti.

When the dental community is averaging killing one child a month, it’s not a freak accident!
Answers sought in dental surgery death of Howard County teen

By Kellie Woodhouse kwoodhouse@patuxent.com
The state Medical Examiner’s Office is investigating the death of a 17-year-old Marriotts Ridge High School junior, who died last week after complications arose during routine wisdom tooth surgery.

Jennifer “Jenny” Michelle Olenick, of Woodstock, an aspiring professional singer, went to a Columbia oral surgeon on March 28 for a tooth extraction procedure and went into cardiac arrest during surgery, her mother said.

She was taken by ambulance to Howard County General Hospital and then flown to Johns Hopkins Hospital, in Baltimore, where she died 10 days later, on April 6.

Cathy Garger, Olenick’s mother, said her daughter’s sudden death was baffling.

“Her heart tests at Hopkins showed normal functioning of her heart. She was in the best of health,” said Garger, who accompanied her daughter to the surgery with Olenick’s father, John Olenick.

Dr. Domenick Coletti, the Columbia-based oral surgeon who performed the operation with the assistance of an anesthesiologist, said he was “deeply saddened” by Olenick’s death.

Texas Citizens Picking Up The Tab for Unnecessary Orthodontics

 

by BYRON HARRIS

Bio | Email 

NEWS 8 INVESTIGATES

DALLAS — Nobody has ever died from crooked teeth, some orthodontists say. 

Historically, straightening teeth with braces is viewed largely as a cosmetic procedure, done for cosmetic purposes.

Yet, last year, Texas taxpayers paid for braces for more than 120,000 children under Medicaid. The total bill was more than $184 million, which was far more than the next 10 states combined.

A News 8 investigation found that Navarro Orthodontix, which controls 11 clinics across the state, was paid more than $22 million in Medicaid last year. That's more than the entire state of California, which paid out $19.4 million.

All told, Texas paid out over $184 million for Medicaid orthodontics last year, which is nearly double the amount from 2008. The money is supposed to go for teeth determined to be so crooked they could handicap a child, usually between the ages of 12 and 19 according to state rules. Judging by the increased payouts, the teeth of Texas children are growing more crooked each year.

"There's a large population of people that are somehow qualifying for Medicaid treatment that seven years ago weren't qualifying," said Dr. Greg Greenberg, a Dallas orthodontist.

While the worsening economy has put more kids into poverty, it's also true that orthodontics is booming.

On Garland Road in Dallas, two clinics are paired off like gas stations across from one another. All Smiles Dental sits directly across the street from the Smiley Dental Clinic. Smiley's vans, used to pick up patients, prominently display "Medicaid Accepted" in their bright yellow paint scheme.

Last year, Smiley took in nearly $2 million in Medicaid through its affiliates in North Texas. All Smiles collected $7.5 million. Together, the two chains collected more than twice as much as the entire state of Illinois paid out last year.

In Tarrant and Parker counties, doctors Sheila Birth and Charles Stewart run six offices, and like all the clinics mentioned in this story, they employ several orthodontists. All told, they collected more than $5 million in Medicaid last year, according to state records. That's twice as much as all the providers in the state of Florida.

Birth declined to be interviewed on camera for this story. In e-mails, she pointed out that a lawsuit in Texas forced the state to expand its Medicaid coverage in 2007, and that states have differing criteria for Medicaid reimbursement, which makes comparison inappropriate.

Texas was successfully sued over Medicaid underpayment, dental care included, but orthodontic care was not part of the lawsuit. Texas specifically prohibits Medicaid reimbursement for cosmetic orthodontic care
.

Critics say the state simply doesn't evaluate claims.

"There's no accountability," said Dr. Larry Tadlock, an orthodontist with a private practice who's also an associate professor at Baylor Dental School in Dallas.

Leesburg Virginia couple charged for practicing dentistry without a license

 

Posted at 11:48 AM ET, 05/13/2011

Leesburg couple accused of illegal dentistry

By Maria Glod

A Loudoun couple who allegedly ran a dental office in the basement of their Leesburg home have been charged with practicing dentistry without a license, officials said.

Nelson A. Castro-Diaz, 47, and Matilde A. Lindarte-Vargas, 35, had a full-service office in their home in the 1200 block of Tennessee Drive that included a dental chair, waiting room and a receptionist desk, according to Loudoun Sheriff’s officials. Authorities said the office catered to the Latino community.

The couple told investigators they had worked as dentists in their native country, according to sheriff’s spokesman Kraig Troxell. Troxell said he didn’t know what country the couple were from.

Castro-Diaz and Lindarte-Vargas were released on their own recognizance, authorities said.

Small Smiles Dental Center wants to put my child to sleep for dental treatment-Good idea?

 

I can’t answer that. 

But I can tell you that the nasal spray of “midazolam” along with nitrous oxide gas- inhalation sedation (IHS) - was studied on 100 children between the ages of 3 and 13, who were originally referred for “general anesthesia” and 96% of the required dental treatment was completed successfully.  There was no need for general anesthesia and parents were present with the children during the procedure. 

The National Institute of Health recommends this technique instead of Dental General Anesthesia. (DGA)

You can read the study for yourself here:
The safety and efficacy of intranasal midazolam se... [SAAD Dig. 2010] - PubMed result

Of course skilled dentists and staff as well as life saving equipment and medication is a must! 

I can tell you general anesthesia is close to death, and I’ve lost count of the number of children who have died in the last two years. (8) and rising.

I can tell you seven studies of Inhalation sedation, using nothing but nitrous oxide (along with local numbing), without the nasal spray have taken place.  These studies also used children who had been referred for general anesthesia.

The studies were reported to have a “remarkable degree of consistency in the reported treatment effectiveness despite other differences in patients”. 

What were the results? 

No more secret meetings and backroom deals for health care professionals who screw up in Washington state

Washington State HB 1493–Signed Into Law April 22, 2011, Effective July 22, 2011

HB 1493 - 2011-12

What is it?

It provides greater transparency into health professional’s disciplinary actions taken by state licensing boards, such as the Washington State Department of Health Dental Board. 

 

HB - 1493

• ŸAllows a complainant in a disciplinary proceeding under the Uniform Disciplinary
• Act to supplement the contents of his or her complaint.
  Requires a disciplining authority to promptly respond to inquiries regarding the status of a complaint.
• Requires a disciplining authority to provide a complainant with the file relating to the complaint.
• Requires a disciplining authority to allow a complainant to submit an oral or written victim impact statement.
• Requires a disciplining authority to inform the complainant with a report on the complaint's final disposition.
• Allows the complainant to make a request for reconsideration of the disciplining authority's decision.

HB 1493 – Analysis

The Original Bill – 1.5 Simple Straightforward pages of meaningful legislation

The Final Bill – Instead of watering down it seems to have been strengthened

The Bill had NO impact on the state budget.  None.  Nada.

There was a substitute bill presented by the Senate.  Compared to the Original Bill:

• Allowed the license holder to respond to any supplemental information submitted by the complainant.
• Required the disciplining authority to promptly respond to status inquiries by the license holder (in addition to the complainant).
• Required the disciplining authority to provide a copy of the file to the license holder (in addition to the complainant).
• Changed "victim impact statement" to "impact statement."
• Limited the circumstances in which the complainant may request reconsideration to situations in which (a) there has been no statement of charges or allegations and (b) there is new information relating to the original complaint or report.
• Required the disciplining authority to notify the license holder of any request for reconsideration and allows the license holder to respond.

On March 1, 2011 the Third reading of the bill took place in the House and a vote was called.  Twenty-nine (29) representatives voted no, all Republican.

They are:

Gary Alexander - R Jan Angel - R Mike Armstrong - R Katrina Asay - R Barbara Bailey - R Vincent Buys -R Cary Condotta - R Larry Crouse - R Bruce Dammeier - R Richard DeBolt - R Susan Fagan - R Larry Haler - R Mark Hargrove -R Paul Harris - R Norm Johnson - R

Brad Klippert - R Joel Kretz - R Dan Kristiansen - R Jim McCune - R Jason Overstreet - R Kevin Parker - R Kirk Pearson - R Charles Ross - R Matt Shea - R Joe Schmick - R Shelly Short - R Norma Smith - R David Taylor  - R Hans Zeiger - R Bill Hinkle - R was “excused”

 

By April 7, it was voted on by the Senate.   One “Lone Ranger” Senator voted no.  Who you ask?  That would be Senator Doug Ericksen (R) of Washington state.

Another Teenager Dies During Dental Treatment

There is another child death for 2011, I believe that makes 4 so far.  Miciah Bonzani from outside Pittsburgh died May 5, 2011.  Story plus video at the link below.
New Kensington Teenager Dies Unexpectedly - News Story - WPXI Pittsburgh
I will be updating when I can dig up more details. 
Prayers to her and her family. 
God help us!