If your teeth hurt, what do you do? Go see a dentist, right?
Did you know you can go to jail if you do not take your child to the dentist for regular dental care?
Neither did Tameka White.
Tamika S. White, 19, was arrested Wednesday on a felony neglect charge.
Her daughter, whose age was not listed, has suffered from tooth pain for more than a year, according to a Palmetto Police Department report.
How can you ignore a child’s pain for over a year?
White took the child to a dentist who told her the child had bottle mouth — tooth decay common in infants and toddlers, the report said.
But White’s Medicaid coverage would not pay for the treatment, and she refused to seek money for treatment through child-support payments from the child’s father, police said.
She also did not seek another specialist who would accept Medicaid or any other treatments that would be covered, according to a report.
“Bottle mouth” is common among children that are neglected. The parent or caretaker will respond to the child’s cry’s by putting the child to bed with a bottle in an attempt to pacify the child. If the bottle contains juice or milk the sugar content of the liquid will rot the teeth leading to severe pain.
In this situation, the “remedy” creates more pain which then becomes a never ending cycle.
Medicaid (in Georgia this is known as Peachcare) does provide routine dental care but very few dentists are willing to accept Medicaid patients due to the low reimbursement rate. Still, this is no excuse for ignoring your child’s health.
Most dental insurance plans are affordable and cover routine care (exams and cleaning) at little or no charge to the patient. There is usually no waiting period and some even allow you to choose any dentist rather than requiring you to pick from a network.
