On Monday, Araceli Avila took her three-year-old daughter to the dentist in California.
Daleyza Avila Hernandez was there to undergo an otherwise routine procedure where two teeth would be pulled, with two caps put on two others.
But as her parents hovered in the waiting room for their three-year-old to be finished and for the family to head off home, an ambulance pulled up. It was there in the hope paramedics could revive her daughter.
“My daughter was very healthy,” Ms Avila told FOX40. “All I did was I take my daughter to the dentist because they were going to fix her teeth, and about 30 minutes later they brought her back dead.”
Recalling that her young, loved toddler was “vivacious and full of life” before heading into the dentist, Ms Avila said when she saw the ambulance come, she had no idea it would be there for her own child.
“And I stood up and went outside because I was like, ‘they are coming for a kid,’ but I never thought it was for my child,” she said.
The mother wasn’t allowed into the surgery room, and when the dentists emerged, a nurse told them their daughter’s heart stopped. She was rushed to hospital where little Daleyza was pronounced dead.
David Thompson, the administrator of the dentist where Daleyza died, told FOX40 Ms Avila and her husband were not allowed in the room because of sanitary reasons and believes the three-year-old had a reaction to the anesthetics during the procedure.
The Dental Board of California have said they are investigating the cause of death.
Top Comments
This child likely died from a genetic condition called malignant hyperthermia. When you hear of healthy people dying suddenly during exposure to anaesthetic (especially at dentist), this is usually the issue. Very sad and unpredictable. The family should be assessed for this dangerous condition, as it's heritable.
Very scary..........
Ummm hygiene? I have always been allowed into the room with my children when at the dentist. A young child would be absolutely distraught without someone they knew when getting that sort of procedure unless under general anesthesia. There is something fishy about this story
And who caps a 3 yo's baby teeth? Agreed - something very fishy.
The child was having surgery, you can't pull teeth and put caps on a 3 year old without them having a general anaesthetic...so it makes sense. It is very common to have paediatric dental procedures under a GA in Australia too.
My son had caps put on his front teeth because he has extra teeth and they overlap (they are actually the same tooth, but they have 2 heads). no matter how well you take care of the teeth, they are prone to decay so they needed to be capped to prevent cavities in the groove between the teeth
Unfortunately the food in US is terrible - loaded with High Fructose Corn Syrup. What you see people feeding their kids is atrocious, including soft drinks and Kool-Aid and "juice". The mother looks like she has a poor diet. For the record, kids needing invasive dental treatment on baby teeth is also on the rise in Australia. It's totally down to poor diet exacerbated by poor dental hygiene. Very sad all round.