Five year old dies after dental visit

Sep 28 2006

A routine visit to the dentist has ended in death for a 5-year-old girl in Chicago.

Diamond Brownridge lapsed into a coma after a dental procedure at Little Angel Dental in the Little Village neighborhood, on Saturday.

During the procedure to fill two cavities and put caps on some lower front teeth the little girl stopped breathing; she suffered suffered organ damage and had been in a comatose state since being taken to the hospital.

A spokeswoman for the Children's Memorial Hospital says the child died at 4:30 with her mother Ommettress Travis at her bedside, but gave no further details.

A court order has been issued requiring the dentist Dr. Hicham K. Riba and the Little Angel Dental office to preserve records and the anesthesia equipment used on the girl.

Details of the dental employees who worked on Saturday have also been asked for.

The family are claiming that Diamond did not receive proper care during the operation and was either over-sedated or not properly monitored while she was unconscious.

Diamond apparently received a triple dose of sedatives, an oral agent, an intravenous drug and nitrous oxide gas, during the treatment.

Ommettress Travis says she was asked to leave the room during the half-hour procedure and when she returned, her daughter was lying in the dental chair and not breathing.

The dentist, 40-year-old Hicham Riba, is certified to administer anesthesia to patients and his state license is current, says the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation.

He has apparently been traumatized by the incident.