Children’s Dental Group of Anaheim (CDG): the 2016 Infections

By Alexander D. Napolin, Esq. | Last reviewed October 30, 2026

Alexander D. Napolin is among the lawyers in the Children's Dental Group litigation in Orange County Superior Court. The counts of children below are the county's counts of all children it reported; they say nothing about which families any lawyer represents. The facts below come from the County of Orange Health Care Agency's update of February 1, 2017, quoted with italics in the original omitted.

What happened at Children's Dental Group in Anaheim in 2016?

The County of Orange Health Care Agency reported that “Mycobacterium abscessus dental infections have been reported in patients who have undergone pulpotomy procedures at the 2156 East Lincoln Avenue office of Children's Dental Group in Anaheim.” The agency said that “[t]he facility's internal water system appears to have been the source of mycobacteria based on the Orange County Health Care Agency's facility assessment and laboratory testing.” (County of Orange Health Care Agency, Update: Mycobacterium Infections Associated with a Local Dental Clinic (Feb. 1, 2017), p. 1.)

As of that update, “67 children have been reported to have slowly progressive oral cellulitis consistent with mycobacterial infection following dental pulpotomy procedures at this facility,” and “21 of the 67 cases have been identified by culture to have mycobacterial infection; 20 cases had Mycobacterium abscessus identified and one developed infection with Mycobacterium chelonae.” The update adds that “[i]nfections have been identified in children who have received pulpotomies performed from February 4 to August 20, 2016.” (Ibid.)

What did the clinic and the county do?

• The water system. “The facility discontinued performing pulpotomy procedures from September 6-November 7, 2016 in order to replace their water system and install appropriate infection control safeguards” (ibid.).
• A second closure order. The update says that on December 15, 2016, after the facility had restarted performing pulpotomies, the county's Public Health Laboratory “identified Mycobacterium mucogenicum growing from multiple clinical water samples obtained as part of follow up testing at the facility.” It adds: “Though M. mucogenicum is not known to pose the same risk to dental patients as M. abscessus, the identification of any mycobacterium (even at low levels) was of sufficient concern that the County Health Officer issued a second order requiring closure of the clinic pending further investigation of the situation” (ibid.).
• Follow-up for patients. “The Orange County Health Care Agency recommends that patients who have had a pulpotomy from the Children's Dental Group from January 1, 2016-December 15, 2016 have periodic follow-up dental examinations for one year after their procedure” (ibid.; bold in the original).

Sources

• County of Orange Health Care Agency, Update: Mycobacterium Infections Associated with a Local Dental Clinic (Feb. 1, 2017).

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