Seven children with serious bacterial infections have been hospitalized at Children's Hospital Orange (Calif.) County following a routine dental procedure, according to KTLA 5.
The children went to Children's Dental Group of Anaheim (Calif.) for pulpotomies, which involve dental pulp removal, between May 3 and Aug. 2. Eight children reported suffering from slowly progressive oral cellulitis, a soft tissue bacterial infection, according to county health officials. Seven of the eight children were hospitalized, and hospitals officials have confirmed at least one case of Mycobacterial abscessus infection, according to a Los Angeles Times report. M. abscessus can cause "dental abscess and other skin and soft tissue infections."
The Orange County Health Care Agency is investigating the matter and is trying to contact the families of up to 500 patients who underwent pulpotomy procedures at the dental clinic. The clinic has stopped performing the procedure for the time being.
"To protect the health and safety of our patients, upon seeing this we began a review and testing of our systems, equipment, water and other elements in the office," the dental clinic said in a statement, reports the Los Angeles Times.