I had a link over at Flap’s Dentistry Blog this morning and this is a truely tragic event.

Here is an update:

An Irvington dentist who was disciplined by the state after a 6-year-old girl died during a routine procedure eight years ago is again under investigation following the death of a second child in his care last week.

Patrick Bamgboye, 64, was still on probation for the earlier incident when 3-year-old Juan Quiej and his mother arrived at Dental Health Associates last Wednesday.

Juan, who was there to have cavities fixed, was restrained in a cocoon-like papoose to limit his movement and administered a local anesthetic, his mother said.

Shortly afterward, the boy went limp, his lips turning blue. He had stopped breathing. He was later pronounced dead at a local hospital.

The death has sparked an investigation by the state Division of Consumer Affairs, the agency that oversees the Board of Dentistry, officials confirmed Tuesday.

“We need to know what happened and why,” said Thomas Calcagni, the division’s director.

In addition, Acting Essex County Prosecutor Carolyn Murray said in a statement her office was working with the Attorney General’s Office to determine if a criminal probe should be launched.

Then, there was this from a release from the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry.

We want to share with you the tragic news of the death of a three-year-old boy in New Jersey.  New Jersey officials are investigating dentist and AAPD & ADA member, Dr. Patrick Bamgboye, after the child died in his care while restrained and under local anesthetic for a routine cavity-filling procedure. Dr. Bamgboye was still on probation following a suspension by the Board of Dentistry for the death of a six-year-old girl in 2004.  

Similar to the three-year old boy, the six-year old girl had been placed in a papoose and given a local anesthetic, and stopped breathing during the procedure. But a medical examiner determined that she had died of natural causes because she suffered from several serious medical conditions, including cerebral palsy.  The Board of Dentistry investigated her death and filed a complaint against Bamgboye in 2008.  An administrative law judge in 2010 found no gross negligence, but the board suspended Bamgboye for three months in January last year and placed him on probation for an additional 21 months. The Division of Consumer Affairs, which oversees the Board of Dentistry, is investigating. The Essex County prosecutor’s office is reviewing the case with the attorney general’s office to determine whether a criminal investigation is warranted.

Stay tuned as the investigation proceeds.