The Driver Dental Tragedy: State Neglect or Parental Neglect?

Deamonte Driver, a 12 year-old homeless child, died last week because an infection in his molar spread to his brain. The political response has been to call for more dental aid for the poor, despite the fact that the child's dental care was completely covered under Medicaid and this was really a case of a parent failing to be a parent.

Yesterday, U.S. Sens. Benjamin L. Cardin (D-Md.) and Jeff Bingaman (D-N.M.) invoked Deamonte's case as they introduced legislation designed to put more children who lack insurance or who rely on state aid into a dentist's chair.

"It is outrageous today that in America, a young boy can die because his family can't find a dentist to remove an infected tooth," Cardin said on the Senate floor Thursday. "Anytime we lose a child, it is a tragedy. But Deamonte Driver's death is particularly devastating because it was easily preventable."

Yes, it was tragic and preventable. But the fault lies mostly with Driver's mother, as dental care is fully paid for by Medicaid, which she was receiving.

The Driver case is one of parental neglect.

Fewer than one-third of children in Maryland's Medicaid program received any dental services in 2005, the latest year for which figures are available from the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. The figures were even lower in Virginia and the District.

But why do only one third of kids covered under Medicaid receive dental service when they are all fully covered? Charging taxpayers new costs is not the best answer when the services are there and parents do not take their children to appointments, largely due to social dysfunction.