A 9-year-old elementary school student in Southern California had four teeth extracted during a school-based dental program, reportedly without the consent of his mother, according to a story by KGTV-10 News San Diego.
Alexander Henry, a student at Freese Elementary School in Lomita, currently takes part in the Big Smiles Program, an organization the San Diego Unified School District contracts with to provide dental care at no cost to local children.
His mother told KGTV that she had authorized Big Smiles to examine her son's mouth but never signed or returned a separate form authorizing tooth extractions. According to the story, two of her son's teeth were allegedly loose and the others had caries.
Big Smiles issued the following statement to KGTV:
"Big Smiles provides quality dental care to children in a school setting. It is our practice to always obtain informed consent and to only provide procedures that are medically necessary. We cannot provide details of this specific case without proper consent given federal laws that protect the privacy of the patient."
Jennifer Gorman, the school district's Nursing & Wellness program manager, said the district is suffering from a shortage of school nurses due to budget cutbacks.
