Three-Year-Old Girl Dies After Horrifying First Visit to Dentist

A lot of people have a (generally) unwarranted fear of going to the dentist, because opening one’s mouth under a bright light so a relative stranger can fiddle with one’s teeth is a fairly daunting prospect. It’s gross, nerve-wracking, and occasionally painful, but it should never, as it was recently for a three-year-old girl in Hawaii, be deadly.

According to CBS affiliate KGMB in Honolulu, three-year-old Finley Boyle, who was left brain dead on Dec. 3 following a procedure at a dentist’s office in Hawaii, died Friday evening at Hospice Hawaii. Her parents, Ashley and Evan Boyle, were present during the dental procedure, and have filed suit against Dr. Lilly Geyer at Island Dentistry for Children.

Finley was originally diagnosed with a whopping 10 cavities and needed four root canals after her very first dental exam. She returned for the procedure on Dec. 3, during which, according to the lawsuit filed by her parents, she stopped breathing after receiving high doses of Demerol, hydroxyzine, chloral hydrate, and nitrous oxide.

The family’s attorney has said there’s no evidence that all precautions were taken, pointing to the fact that Finley’s dental records show three notations on her vital signs the morning of her procedures (vital signs should be checked every five minutes for patients undergoing sedation, according to guidelines from the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry).