CHICAGO, IL - A 5-year-old girl is currently battling for life after she slipped into a coma following sedation at a dental office in Chicago. Diamond Brownridge fell unconscious in a dentists' office where she had gone to get two cavities filled and have her front teeth capped, according to WLS-TV in Chicago.
Doctors are not sure why the girl slipped into a coma, but Ommettress Travis, the girl's mother, said that the dentists had given her three sedatives before she was asked to leave the room. "When I turned her over, her head just went back and i saw like her eyes were at the back of her head and she was just immediately limp and I knew that that was not just drowsiness. I know she was not breathing," she added.
Ms Travis was quoted as telling the Chicago Sun-Times that doctors have asked her to be ready for anything, as the situation did not look good. Diamond was taken to the Children's Memorial Hospital on Saturday and remains on life support although doctors have told the family she is brain dead.
Ms Travis said she left the Little Angel Dental office to pay the bill and when she came back noticed that her daughter's head was tilted unnaturally. "I would never leave the room again. That's my biggest regret,'' said Travis. "I probably would have noticed when her heart stopped."
Dr. Hicham K. Riba, the dentist in whose office the incident occurred is regarded as competent by the state board and has cleared every level of anesthesia since 1997, according to officials. In a statement, Dr Riba said he was praying for Diamond's recovery. "I have treated thousands of children since 1997, and many of my patients require intravenous sedation," he said, adding that his staff was trained in CPR as well.
Current American Dental Association guidelines say that children who are sedated should be monitored at all times. Ms Travis says that till she called for help an oximeter, which monitors pulse and oxygen levels was not attached to Diamond.
