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What is considered dental neglect in children? If you are unaware of cavities is this neglect if left untreated? Is not taking a child to the dentist neglect?
Optional Information: Gender: FemaleAge: 7State/Country: Virginia Already Tried: My childrens dad called CPS on me and he is trying to say I neglected my daughters teeth
Hi, thanks for posting your question on Just Answer Dental neglect, is generally associated with parents or caregivers who do not take care of the child, 1)the child may have too many cavities or bad oral hygiene 2)The child could have untreated abcesses or infections in the mouth that are out of proportion for eg 15 bad teeth on 10 year old When you are the parent you are supposed to be aware of the child's health "I was unaware is not a defense to dental neglect" Not taking the child to a dentist Is not dental neglect when the child is healthy, there are 2 sides to the story Your child does not have any dental health problems and the parent never took the child to a dentist- there is no problem here the parent got lucky, another parent dint take the child to the dentist and when seen by a particular dentist there are 20 cavities, the dentist may call the law and The department of children and families then decides what is dental neglect again each state has different laws and may see the case differently./ Hope this helps Dr Girish
Experience: 19 years of Clinical Experience in all phases of Dentistry
If a child had 4 cavities. And the parent did not fill them do to lack of money. Would that be considered neglect? Also if a parent only knew about 4 cavities and not nine.Would that be considered neglect
Hello, Here is my opinion It may be different if an attorney is involved because they can very harsh In such a case, what would matter is did the parent try to get help with money or assistance from family. If you tried and could not get the money, It may not be neglect on the other hand if you did not try to get help from family, or the health department or any institution if you are financially not well off, there are social workers in most states where you could have tried to get help if you dint try the Lawyers may push to you to a corner. I have children with 9 cavities where their are not charged with dental neglect, because there is no one to charge them. In your case you have the father of the child wanting to charge you. Thats what makes your situation complicated Best wishes Dr Girish
I only knew about 4 cavities and they were not serve at the time. I didn't know about the rest until the next time she went to the dentist. Do you think that would be considered dental neglect if she was free of pain and you didn;t know she had all those.
Hi Again, I dont want to mislead you, Pain is not an indicator of disease, if you did not take your parent who had bed sores but did not complain of pain would that be elder neglect ? the answer is yes The interpretation of the law is very difficult, If you get the child father to drop the case, that would be easy