Maryland Boy Dies of a Toothache (and guess who is to blame)

PMSNBC ^ | 02/28/2007 | PMSNBC

[massgopguy]

My Grandfather put a string around one of my baby teeth that had come loose but wouldn't fall out and pulled it. There was no Dental Insurance in 1966 and I didn't die.

[rabidralph]

No, that's his mother in the picture, Alyce.

[edpc]

He likely needed it more than you.....

;-)

[TC Rider]

How sad, most dental schools will provide medicaid services.

Too bad the unemployed mother with her 5 fatherless kids didn't have time to save her son.

[Aikonaa]

If his mother hadn't been focused on getting a dentist for his brother, who had six rotted teeth.

I'm sorry to be so 'in-sensitive' but did this family ever brush their teeth? Adolescents don't get six rotted teeth without total disregard for dental hygiene and a very unhealthy diet.

[supremedoctrine]

I'll never forget a sign I saw somewhere once.

"Dentistry is not expensive---ignoring your teeth is expensive".
In this case, fatal. But this is a case of ignorance, stubborness, pigheadedness, and profound neglect which all combined into what would become the tragic circumstances of bringing about a totally needless death.

[HOTTIEBOY]

It was actually my husband that this happened to...

OH. OK. You mean you had to fix a tooth for a grown man? I thought you were talking about your kid. So....why didn't he call the dentist for himself?

I get the kid/husband confusion.

Nevermind.

[bmwcyle]

It takes a village to kill and waste money.

[ShadowDancer]

WTF are you talking about? Did read anything I wrote? You may be a hottie but you sure aren't very bright.

[Nathan Zachary]

That happened to my wife once. I just grabbed a pair of tooth extractors and pulled her tooth out. Didn't hurt a bit.

Everyone should have a pair of those in case of an emergency.

[Obadiah]

It is the primary job of a parent to protect and train their children. This child, along with his brother had rotten teeth. There is no excuse for kids having rotten teeth, let alone untreated ones.

Had the kids ever seen a dentist?

Were the kids forced, under parental compulsion, to brush their teeth at least twice a day?

Were the kids allowed to drink sugary Kool-Aid in their sippy cups as infants throughout the day and into then drink it at each meal and throughout the day?

I resent that these liberal journalists who tacitly affix racial blame to government. "We failed this poor Black family." Hogwash! I don't want to come across as uncaring, but decisions have consequences and this woman was enabled to continue to make BAD decisions for herself and for her children while the government helped her limit the collateral consequences of her lifelong bad choices.

It is very sad that this child died needlessly, but the MOTHER should be held accountable. PMSNBC again demonstrates a toxic liberal media who seeks to mitigate wrong behavior.

[ShadowDancer]

Not with an infection like that in it you sure don't want to do that. Pop that while it's still in that stage and you can send it right into the blood stream.

[Peanut Gallery]

ping

[montag813]

For the mom to ignore that she had to be extremely callous or extremely inattentive to the needs of her child.

Her other 3 children--and the checks she gets for them every week--should be taken away. Frankly, I think that's all she cares about anyway. The Great Society has sadly created millions of such craven beasts instead of mothers. Tragic for this nation.

[Labyrinthos]

How sad, most dental schools will provide medicaid services. Too bad the unemployed mother with her 5 fatherless kids didn't have time to save her son.

She should have told the Medicaid people that she needed an abortion. They wouldhave driven herand her fve kids to the hospital in a limo.

[kcvl]

The Driver children have never received routine dental attention, said their mother, Alyce Driver. The bakery, construction and home health-care jobs she has held have not provided insurance. The children's Medicaid coverage had temporarily lapsed at the time Deamonte was hospitalized. And even with Medicaid's promise of dental care, the problem, she said, was finding it.

I guess she couldn't find another job?!

His death certificate listed two conditions associated with brain infections: "meningoencephalitis" and "subdural empyema."

[HOTTIEBOY]

I read it but I assumed you were talking about your kid.
It makes sense that you would call all around for a kid because the kid comes to you for help. It doesn't make sense to call around town for a man.

I got the kid/husband confusion just like you said you did.

When I was 10 years old, I asked my mother when I needed something. I should be quite capable of doing it myself now. See how that just makes more sense?

[sgtbono2002]

Man you are not kidding. One rule in this country should be , never get a toothache on a weekend, You are screwed.

But although this poor kid died on a Sunday the fact is his teeth were ignored for a hell of a long time.
It would seem that a good mother would have found some way to get these teeth looked at.

[Nathan Zachary]

Her's wasn't infected, it was loose. That's what happens when you get a tooth pulled and don't get a bridge. The tooth above(or below) slowly falls down (or up) and out of the gum.
It was just a nerve root causing her pain, but it was gone instantly when I pulled the tooth, which was very easy to do.

I was an army medic so I sort of know what I'm doing most of the time...

[madison10]

There are Dental Teaching Schools that perform surgeries and routine treatment for minimal cost. Did the mother even LOOK for the alternative to a regular dentist?