CTV News has learned a four-year-old child was rushed to hospital in critical condition in October from a Winnipeg dental clinic where the child had been put under using general anesthetic.
A source said the anesthetic was administered by a trained doctor, but not a specialized anesthesiologist.
The Manitoba Dental Association says more than 2,000 pre-school children with tooth decay are given general anesthetic in Manitoba operating rooms within hospitals each year, but it didn’t have numbers on usage at private clinics.
Dentist Dr. Joel Antel said general anesthetic is mainly used to prevent anxiety.
“You want to make sure you're setting them down a road to being a good dental patient all their life and early experiences can affect that, so if someone needs a lot of dental work done, it may be something. If they don't remember going through it, it's not going to set them on a lifetime of worrying what things are going to be like,” said Antel.
The child rushed to hospital in October from a dental clinic remains at Children’s Hospital and has now been upgraded to stable.
The clinic declined to comment on the incident, saying it “has obligations to keep this a private matter.”
Information on whether an investigation was launched has not been disclosed.
The College of Physicians and Surgeons of Manitoba is the group that would investigate the role of a doctor who administered anesthetic but it doesn’t make it public if they are investigating a doctor. It only makes information public if disciplinary action is taken.
The Manitoba Dental Association also cannot disclose if it’s investigating the clinic in question or its staff.
