Dentist faces charges for wrong teeth extraction

A dentist is now facing a criminal charge before the Regional Trial Court for extracting what was allegedly the two permanent teeth of his 10-year old patient believing that these were only milk teeth.

John Sidney Ricamora may be meted one to six months in jail if convicted of reckless imprudence resulting in serious physical injuries that was filed against him.

City prosecutor Nicolas Sellon approved the recommendation of assistant city prosecutor Ernesto Narido Jr. to indict Ricamora before the court because he found probable cause to hold the respondent for the crime charged.

Narido said the dentist, without taking the necessary care and precaution to prevent an accident from happening to his patient, "unlawfully and feloniously" extracted the two permanent teeth, otherwise known as maxillary incisors of Kristian Duyongco on May 8, 2003.

The child was brought by his mother to the clinic of Ricamora at Room 206, Crown Building, North Reclamation Area, to inquire about the boy's problem of gaps in his teeth, particularly at the maxillary incisors.

The dentist then advised the boy's mother to let the child undergo an X-ray. He told the boy's mother that the problems of the gaps of the teeth can be solved because the lateral teeth were starting to grow on both sides.

After he examined the X-ray results, the dentist decided to extract two of the boy's teeth to avoid possible overlapping of teeth and to avoid putting braces in the future.

But the boy's parents wondered because eight months had already lapsed after the extraction of the teeth and no new teeth has grown in their place.

This prompted the boy's parents to consult with two other dentists who told them that the two teeth extracted by Ricamora were already permanent teeth.

"As a father, it is difficult to see your son losing his precious smile. And what is more depressing is the fact that our son is the subject of ridicule by his classmates and often encountered fights because of his teeth or the lack of it," the boy's father said. - Rene U. Borromeo