Reply #39: " The boy, who is Resto's foster son, had been complaining of pains..."

[NorthernSpy]

http://abclocal.go.com/wpvi/story?section=local&id=4557061

The news reports on this story say that the child is Resto's foster son.

Second - I'm doubting seriously that the neglect was intentional, but probably due to a lack of dental insurance and/or funds to pay for a dentist.

I'm going to have to demur on this point. Basic oral hygiene is within everyone's grasp. Dental floss, fluoride-containing toothpaste, and sugarless gum are all pretty cheap. It costs nothing to drink water instead of soda, and milk is subsidized for poor children. These things may not prevent absolutely all tooth decay, but they can prevent the kind of catastrophic decay that this poor kid was suffering from.

My family had very little money when I was growing up, and I got a grand total of two dentist visits back then. But I never had a cavity. My mom was always very scrupulous about oral hygiene, and I'm grateful for that. It's too bad that this kid didn't have anyone who was willing to give him even minimal care.