Abiel Valenzuela Zapata Kansas 3 year old boy dies during dental procedure at Tiny Teeth Pediatric Dentistry in Wichita. A family seek answers.
It was suppose to be a simple procedure. A 3-year-old Kansas boy is reported to have died during routine dental procedure after an apparent adverse reaction to medication while having some teeth pulled.
Abiel Valenzuela Zapata was brought by his mom to Tiny Teeth Pediatric Dentistry in Wichita last week to have the procedure done because of an infection, his mother told KSNW.
Abiel cried when he got an injection in the chair, mom Nancy Valenzuela said, while re-assuring the toddler, ‘Papi, everything’s going to be OK.’
About 3 minutes after the boy was sedated and the dentist worked on his lower jawline, the child’s pulse began to slow and his cheek swelled up, according to a police incident report.
The boy underwent CPR and was rushed to the hospital but later died.
No criminal charges
‘We didn’t expect to come out of there without a child,’ Abiel’s mother said.
A Wichita police spokesman told KAKE-TV that Abiel likely suffered an allergic reaction.
‘It is believed that the child had an unanticipated reaction to medicine provided during the course of his dental procedures,’ Officer Trevor Macy told KAKE.
The boy’s mom has been left wondering whether she could have done anything to save her boy.
‘His heart just stopped beating,’ Valenzuela told KWCH-TV. ‘Just out of nowhere, so something must have gone wrong.’
‘As a mother, you feel like you failed him because you didn’t do anything to protect him,’ Valenzuela added.
But she said she at least made a vow to her dead son.
A family seeks answers
‘I couldn’t do anything for you, but I will investigate’ — it’s what I told him,’ Valenzuela told KSNW. ‘It’s the only thing I can do and bring awareness.’
Abiel would have turned 4 next month.
Authorities have said they do not plan to bring a criminal investigation forward.
The Wichita dental to date has declined media overture for comment as a family continues to seek answers.
