Houston 4-year-old suffers severe brain damage after being sedated at dentist

A little girl’s life has been changed forever after a trip to the dentist left her with severe brain damage.

Nevaeh Hall, 4, has been left unable to speak or walk after sedation at Houston’s Diamond Dentistry went terribly wrong in early January.

Her mother Courissa told KHOU that the girl went to Dr. Bethaniel Jefferson to have some of her teeth capped or removed because of decay, but the 30lb girl was given five sedatives and remained under for more than seven hours.

Four hours of that time were reportedly spent in a restraint device called a papoose, which Nevaeh’s family and attorney say contributed to her current condition.

Her mother and father remained in the waiting room as the girl, who was having seizures, saw her heartbeat go up to 196 beats a minute and her oxygen levels drop to 49%.

Lawyer Jim Moriarty said that the girl “was essentially tortured.”

However, the dentist did not call paramedics until four hours after Nevaeh’s vital signs worsened, he said according to the Houston Chronicle.

Now she remains in the hospital, and has been diagnosed with involuntary muscle contractions.

Jefferson’s license was suspended by the state dental board after the incident, and a hearing about revoking it permanently is scheduled for later this month.

She was previously reprimanded by the board in 2005, for not paying enough attention to a patient’s blood pressure and pulse, and in 2012 for improper sedation.

Moriarty has previously reached a $39 million settlement with a children’s dental chain over their practices in a case that involved the use of restraints and parents being able to be with their children.

However, Clark, who plans to sue, told KTRK that her family will never be able to return to life it had before.

“At this point there's nothing else that can be done to get that same four year old back. It hurts to see her like that,” she said.