Antibiotics—Some Still Need Them

Attention, Heart Patients

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You may no longer need antibiotics before your dental work. The American Heart Association’s guidelines were rewritten in light of evidence that, for most heart patients, the risks of taking preventive antibiotics may outweigh the benefits. Using antibiotics unnecessarily could cause allergic reactions and create unwanted antibiotic resistance, and researchers failed to find that taking them prevented infective endocarditis (IE) in most patients. Only those at greatest risk of IE should receive short-term preventive antibiotics before routine dental procedures.

But pay heed if you’ve received a joint replacement. The American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons recommends that antibiotics be given to high-risk patients before an invasive dental procedure—no matter how long it has been since the joint replacement—because of the danger of infection in the implanted joint.

Check with your family doctor, orthopedic specialist, or cardiologist to learn if premedication is still necessary for you.

For both groups, your best defense is diligent daily oral hygiene and maintenance of good oral health. That’s why we recommend regular dental checkups. Call us soon to schedule yours. 

Antibiotics Before Dental Work—Who Needs Them?

Patients for whom preventive antibiotics may be desired include those with:

• artificial joints
• artificial heart valves
• a history of infective endocarditis
• certain specific serious congenital (present from birth) heart conditions, including:
• unrepaired or incompletely repaired congenital heart disease, including those with palliative shunts and conduits
• a congenital heart defect completely repaired with prosthetic material or device, whether placed by surgery or by catheter interventions, during the first six months after the procedure
• any repaired congenital heart defect with problems at or near the site of a prosthetic patch or device
• a cardiac transplant which develops a problem in a heart valve.

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