FLORENCE, Ky. – A father says a Florence dentist discriminated against his daughter because she has ADHD and he filed a complaint, claiming the situation was entirely the dentist's fault.
WHAT is Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder?
Herbie Kidd said he brought his 10-year-old daughter Dayle to ImmediaDent Urgent Care for a routine cleaning and to get a loose tooth pulled. It was their first time there. He didn't expect it would be their last.
The cleaning by dentist Amy Parsons went perfectly, he said. Pulling the tooth did not.
He said Parsons didn't numb Dayle's gums, saying the tooth would come right out. The dentist pulled it, twisted it, tried everything she could to get it out, he said
"The doctor immediately got upset at her and told me - due to my daughter's ADHD - that if she was not going to cooperate with her she thought I needed to take her to Children's Hospital dental clinic and have her sedated," the father said.
He declined and said Parsons told him to reschedule a week later. But the office called a few minutes before the appointment.
"They were going to cancel the appointment because, in the doctor's words, she was uncooperative because of her ADHD and would not let the doctor work with her," he said. "It made me feel like that they're discriminating against her because of her ADHD."
So he consulting a lawyer.
The Kentucky Board of Dentistry says any time a dentist ends a relationship with a patient the dentist has to provide a written 30-day notice, a supply of records and 30-day emergency dental care. Kidd says he never got any one of that.
ImmediaDent's corporate office responded:
"Treating pediatric patients is a different skill set and some are more comfortable than other. We allow [our dentists] to make that decision to make sure they can provide the best quality care."
Kidd says it's simple.
"She just needs to have more patience with children," he said.
The corporate office couldn't respond directly to this situation because of HIPAA laws, but they said they do not discriminate against anyone.
Another patient of Parsons said she's generally pleasant.
