Teen Dies in Dental Chair During Routine Procedure

By Pamela Mortimer

Leejay Levene, 18, died during a visit to a Waterloo dental surgeon to have three wisdom teeth removed. Surgery was required because the teeth were embedded in the jawbone. Due to the nature of a potentially painful procedure, many patients often prefer the use of a general anesthetic. Leejay's mother, Shirley, said that Leejay was nervous about the surgery since he always breathed through his mouth and was concerned that he might not be able to breathe properly. Leejay had just gone under general anesthesia when something went horribly wrong. He started to struggle for breath.

Shirley Levene, settled in the waiting room, had been prepared to take her middle son home after the two hour procedure. Then she heard the 911 call regarding a medical emergency.

"I started shaking. I knew,'' Shirley stated in an interview.

The ambulance arrived within seven minutes, with a more advanced unit arriving five minutes later. The anesthesiologist had been attempting to resuscitate the patient but Leejay’s heart had stopped beating. Paramedics continued attempts to revive the teen, to no avail.

Shirley Levene called her husband, Ron, at work and together, they followed the ambulance to Grand River Hospital. Leejay was placed on life support. Although his heart had begun to beat again, his organs had shut down.

"We were afraid to go asleep Wednesday," Ron said. "He was lying there lifeless."

Despite the valiant efforts of paramedics and the doctors at Grand River, Leejay was not expected to recover. The Levenes were left with a decision no parents ever want to make.

"We made the decision to disconnect," said Ron Levene. "I watched his heart fade away. Our life will never be the same. It's too short a life. He didn't do anything wrong.''

The Waterloo Region coroner, assisted by police, is trying to determine what happened in the office that day. By all standards, Leejay was a healthy young man, who was undergoing a routine dental procedure.

It was stated that someone had noticed a kink in the tube that supplied oxygen to the patient.

"This is such an anomaly," stated Irwin Fefergrad, the registrar for the Royal College of Dental Surgeons of Ontario. "It's so unusual and rare. We are all in a state of shock and sadness. This is a safe procedure.''

Dr. Timothy Wallace, the oral surgeon performing the extraction, has practiced dentistry for 32 years and has performed the same procedure on 12,000 patients. Although he wouldn’t discuss what went wrong Wallace did confirm that the surgery hadn’t begun when Leejay started to struggle.

Wallace stated what while many oral surgeons are trained to administer anesthesia, he prefers to use an anesthesiologist instead of performing the procedure himself.

"I chose to utilize their services because it allows me to concentrate on the surgery,'' he said.

Daniel Haas, a professor of dental anesthesia and pharmacology at the University of Toronto, said that while general anesthetic is safe, it's not perfect. One in 700,000 patients dies each year under similar circumstances.

"It's a rare occurrence that a tragedy happens…but it's not an impossible thing,'' he said.

Since Leejay's death, the family is sitting Shiva, observing a seven day period of mourning in the Jewish faith. In lieu of flowers, the Levene family requests that donations be made to Temple Shalom in Waterloo or the Grand River Hospital intensive care unit.