Last Wednesday morning, a toddler arrived at the emergency department of UF Health Shands Hospital in Gainesville with a swollen jaw.
When emergency doctor Brandon Allen examined the boy, he discovered the child’s teeth had rotted to the point that they were infected and nerves were exposed. “He was in a lot of pain,” Allen said.
Unfortunately, Allen said, children often arrive in his emergency room with painful dental problems that could have been avoided with preventive care.
Florida has the highest rate in the country of children going to hospital Emergency Departments for dental care, and the highest average charge for these visits, a new report reveals.
More than 17,600 children visited Florida’s Emergency Rooms for non-traumatic dental conditions and and additional 3,500 children and adults had to be admitted for life-threatening infections, according to 2021 federal hospital care data compiled by CareQuest Institute, a national nonprofit.
Source: More Florida children get treated in ERs for tooth pain than anywhere else in US / Medical Xpress