A pediatric dentist in Virginia has been reprimanded and fined after the state dental board concluded that she engaged in negligent conduct and practiced in a dangerous manner that led to the death of a 3-year-old following a crown placement procedure.
The Virginia Board of Dentistry ordered Dr. Shinjni Razdan, who works at Banaji Pediatric Dental Specialists in Falls Church, VA, to pay a $10,000 penalty and complete 60 hours of continuing education. Also, she must work in a group practice, and she is not eligible for a sedation permit, according to a state order signed July 30.
On October 23, 2025, a medically complex three-year-old with Down syndrome was brought to the practice to have a tooth restoration and a crown placed on another tooth. During the procedure, Razdan reportedly failed to respond to the distress of the child, who reportedly made noise and cried throughout the procedure, according to the order.
While filling the child’s tooth, Razdan said the patient’s tongue was moving. As she moved to the crown procedure, she claimed that the patient’s tongue movement slowed. Despite these changes, Razdan failed to investigate the cause of this change, according to the order.
At some point, the child became unresponsive. When she talked to police after the incident, Razdan claimed she thought the child had fallen asleep.
When she realized the patient was unresponsive, Razdan contacted emergency medical services, which determined the child was in cardiac arrest. The patient was transported to a hospital but never regained consciousness. He died at the hospital on October 27, 2025, according to the order.
The child’s cause of death was hypoxic encephalopathy secondary to cardiac arrest.
The Virginia Board of Dentistry determined that Razdan was negligent because she failed to get a complete medical history from the patient’s pediatrician. Instead, she reportedly discussed the medical history with the parents of the child.
Had Razdan contacted the pediatrician and obtained medical clearance, she would have learned that the child had a history of respiratory difficulties, including asthma, recurrent pneumonia, and severe pectus excavatum. Also, in 2024, the patient was admitted to the hospital for hypoxemic respiratory failure, which was thought to be secondary to bilateral pneumonia, according to the order.
Furthermore, the board found that Razdan failed to have an emergency plan in place and neither she nor the three dental assistants in the room continuously monitored the child’s condition. The child was unresponsive for an unknown period before resuscitative efforts were initiated. It was reported that Razdan and the patient’s parents performed CPR while the boy was still in the dental chair.
Also, police said that Razdan and her staff contacted an oral surgeon, in a separate practice in the same building, to help with the emergency. The oral surgeon told police that she asked her staff to bring her a monitor and pulse oximeter from her office, according to the order.
Police body camera footage showed no one performing CPR or rescue breathing on the child before emergency services arrived, according to the order.
Earlier in July, the board reprimanded Dr. Girish Banaji for his alleged role in the case.
A criminal complaint is merely an allegation. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
