A dentist used a body bag to strap down a little girl so he could proceed with dental work on her te...

1. Dentist body bag fury: Dad finds daughter petrified
restrained on papoose device - Hartford Top News
A dentist used a body bag to strap down a little girl so he could proceed with dental work on her
teeth, but the father found his child shaking, screaming and in one terrified state. A body bag is how
the father of this little girl described the device that he found his 5-year-old wrapped up in when he
flew into the dentist examination office. He came running unannounced when he heard his
daughter's screams coming from behind closed doors, according to Canada Journal on July.
The dentist office calls it a "papoose board," which makes the restraint device sound cozy and warm,
but to this child she was tied down in an office with strangers without a parent in sight. The father
and the grandmother of this child had accompanied the little girl to the dentist. They were not
allowed into the exam room, which added even more to the fright level for the 5-year-old's horrifying
experience.
The Georgia Newsday today reports that this Georgia dental practice is under fire today for using
this device. "We were sitting out in the waiting room and all of a sudden, we heard somebody
screaming," Evelyn Crow said.
James Crow and his mother, Evelyn Crow, took his little girl, Elizabeth, to the dentist at Smiles-R-Us
in Carrollton to get her front tooth pulled. Apparently this papoose board is something the dentist
has on hand for children who won't cooperate.
When James and Evelyn Crow rushed into the room they saw Elizabeth in this body bag and she was
left unattended. Evelyn said she had to carry her granddaughter out of there shaking because she
was so frightened. "I couldnt see my kid in the body bag just strapped down to the bed, I couldnt
handle it, James Crow said.
The device is legal to use, but the American Academy of Pediatric
http://baileynauc.tumblr.com/post/119406706015/oral-care-plan-what-you-should-know Dentistry
recommends its use only under certain conditions, which are: Protective stabilization, with or
without a restrictive device, performed by the dental team requires informed consent from a parent.
A parents signature on a consent form should not preclude a thorough discussion of the procedure.
James Crow does not believe he had signed a consent form for this device to be used and it certainly
wasn't discussed with him before hand, as the guidelines suggest. I think they should make a law for
dentists not to restrain children like that, the upset father said. He also said that the only thing he
was told was that his daughter would be given some "laughing gas."
Elizabeth's grandmother questioned the dentist about her reasons for putting her granddaughter in
the restraints. The dentist told her it was done when Elizabeth wouldn't cooperate.