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Fewer Antibiotics Before Dental Visits |
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Written by Vu Le, DDS
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 The American Dental Association is no longer recommending routine antibiotics before dental visits for heart murmurs and many previously pre-medicated health issues.
If you've had a heart murmur, you may have heard the words "prophylactic antibiotics" or "antibiotic prophylaxis." The word "prophylactic" simply means "before the fact." We use the
term to describe forms of birth control, preventative dental cleanings, and for
antibiotics taken before a dental or medical procedure.
The following excerpt from "Infective Endocarditis" on the ADA.org :
The guidelines say patients who have taken prophylactic antibiotics routinely in the past but no longer need them include people with:
- mitral valve prolapse
- rheumatic heart disease
- bicuspid valve disease
- calcified aortic stenosis
- congenital heart conditions such as ventricular septal defect, atrial septal defect and hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.
The new guidelines are aimed at patients who would have the greatest
danger of a bad outcome if they developed a heart infection.
Preventive antibiotics prior to a dental procedure are advised for patients with:
- artificial heart valves
- a history of infective endocarditis
- certain specific, serious congenital (present from birth) heart conditions, including
- unrepaired or incompletely repaired cyanotic congenital heart disease, including those with palliative shunts and conduits
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a completely repaired congenital heart defect with prosthetic material
or device, whether placed by surgery or by catheter intervention,
during the first six months after the procedure
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any repaired congenital heart defect with residual defect at the site
or adjacent to the site of a prosthetic patch or a prosthetic device
- a cardiac transplant that develops a problem in a heart valve.
The new recommendations apply to many dental procedures, including
teeth cleaning and extractions. Patients with congenital heart disease
can have complicated circumstances. They should check with their
cardiologist if there is any question at all as to the category that
best fits their needs.
We encourage you to read the full story , and to contact our office if you have any questions. Under these new guidelines, nearly all of our patients currently taking antibiotics before dental visits no longer need to do so. We will review each patient's health history as they come in for new treatment and determine if antibiotic prophylaxis is still necessary.
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