Four-Year-Old Vancouver Boy Dies During Dental Filing Procedure; Anesthesia Use Questioned?

A Vancouver boy, four years old, died after his routine dental visit last week. The boy had anesthesia in his system during a dental filling procedure but never woke up.

The child, Mykel Peterson, underwent a procedure to fill a cavity and the dentist used anesthesia. The dental clinic called Must Love Kids closed on Monday and an employee said they closed for the day to support the family of the boy. The Washington State Dept. Of Health said they reviewed the case but have not decided yet if they will open an investigation on the matter.

Peterson's cause of death remained unknown. The expected toxicology results might be finalized in a month or two.

The family of Peterson said he attended a Vancouver, Washington pre-school and was a happy boy who liked to joke around. He also made big differences in his speech and behavior as he is on the autism spectrum, KTLA 5 shared.

However, he never liked going to the dentist. The mother of the boy, Thmeka Curry, shared that last week when they went to the dentist, her son initially did not want to go and cried about it. The mother continued to reveal the dentist told her everything went smoothly and talked about what they did on the child. Minutes later, the dentist told her they will check on Peterson to see if he already awoke.

Peterson still breathed but minutes later he no longer did. The dentists administered CPR on Peterson and subsequently called 911, First Coast News reported.

Dentists from Must Love Kids released a statement saying in part they have always been passionate with their profession and have "taken the utmost care of our patients and their families, and provide the highest standard of care in a safe environment." They added they used anesthesia more than 1,900 times without incident for the last three years.