Poverty kills

A single unemployed father died from tooth infection in Cincinnati because he could not afford treatment, leaving behind a 6-year-old daughter. Kyle Willis started having an ache in his wisdom tooth two weeks before his death. Dentists told him that it needed to be pulled, but he did not get it pulled because he was out of job and had no health insurance. Subsequently, the tooth infection spread to his brain, causing a headache. So he went to an emergency room, where he got prescriptions for antibiotics and pain medications, and he chose the latter because he could not afford antibiotics.

Treating the tooth infection with antibiotic would have cost 27 dollars, whereas the pain medication cost 3 dollars. He died from the brain infection developed by the toothache.

"People don't realize that dental disease can cause serious illness," said Dr. Irvin Silverstein, a dentist at the University of California at San Diego. "The problems are not just cosmetic. Many people die from dental disease."

Actually, SOYMB will add a correction to Dr. Silverstein's statement - it was Kyle's poverty that killed him.