Practice still open after death
Practitioner’s dental license in place during board investigation
SAN RAMON — The San Ramon dentist who performed a dental procedure on a 3-year-old girl who died after complications is allowed to keep her practice open — even while she is being investigated by a state board.
Dr. Cheri Dang is listed as the dentist at Dentabliss at 111 Deerwood Road, Suite 170, in San Ramon, where tragedy struck Saturday morning. Firefighters and paramedics responded to the dental office around 10 a.m. and transported Marvelena Rady to San Ramon Regional Medical Center, where the Brentwood girl later died.
The Dental Board of California launched an investigation against Dang’s practice after it was made aware of the girl’s death, said Joyia Edmard, spokeswoman for the dental board. Although her license can be suspended, for now it remains active. She’s had no history of violations or investigations, Edmard said.
Dentabliss was closed Wednesday afternoon, the lights out and packages piling up inside the office. A worker at a nearby dental practice said the office seems to have been closed all week.
The state board is awaiting the autopsy report, which would help determine the severity of punishment, if any, against Dang and the practice.
The report could take 90 to 120 days, according to the Contra Costa County coroner’s office.
If the board does find any negligence, it can file accusations with the state Attorney General and the case will be heard before an administrative law judge, Edmard said.
Dentists are allowed to operate during all this, unless they are determined to be a threat to public safety. So far, the board does not have any additional information that would deem Dentabliss nonoperational, Edmard said.
Dang has held a dentist license since June 2009 and also has a general anesthesia permit. Dang did not return phone calls for comment.
Marvelena’s death has raised questions of why a toddler was under anesthesia at such a young age. But pediatric dentist Andrew Soderstrom, a member of the California Dental Association, said putting a 3year-old under sedation is not out of the ordinary.
Young children can be uncooperative, or there could be a medical situation that would make it unsafe to try to treat the patient without full cooperation, he said.
Dentists should discuss the alternatives with parents, including what risks there are, if any, in waiting until the child is a little older so he or she could be put under other sedation, such as nitrous oxide or laughing gas.
A dentist with an anesthesia permit also can operate alone in dental procedures. However, it’s common for dentists to contract out to a licensed anesthesiologist.
Baby teeth aren’t that much different from adult teeth if, say, a cavity goes untreated, Soderstrom said. For example, a deep enough cavity could infect the nerves and blood vessels.
In Marvelena’s case, her father, Homam Rady, told People magazine that there were two dentists in the room, including a licensed anesthesiologist. He said she was put under anesthesia for normal dental work, including cavities, crowns and a couple of extractions.
He told People that her procedure went an hour longer than anticipated, and suddenly, paramedics were rushing in.
“Obviously there is something wrong with the process,” Rady told the magazine. “The medical reports will tell us what happened, but it’s not right.”
He questioned if the dentist or anesthesiologists are trained properly and told the magazine his family is working with a malpractice attorney.