What are the dangers of seeing a dentist with a bad heart?

Question

The tell you to tell your dentist if you've had heart disase why

Answer 1

Dentists sometimes anesthetize their patients. If you have a heart problem, there's a chance anesthesia could kill you.

Moreover, if you have an eixsting heart problem, you may be at elevated risk of developing endocarditis. This is an inflammation of the heart that results from infection. While the teeth and the heart may not seem related, they are closer than you think. Often your mouth bleeds or gets a little bit cut up during all the scraping, poking and prodding during a dental procedure. Bacteria from your mouth can get into your bloodstream and lead to heart infection. endocarditis can be lethal and may require a heart transplant. It is serious.

As it so happens, endocarditis is a problem for some folks with tongue piercings. So think about that before you get a barbell through your lengua.

Answer 2

It kind of depends on what it is that is making your heart "bad". Dentistry is a medicine and science based field. It has an effect on the human body. We prescribe drugs for patients that can effect the whole body. It is therefore important for us to know what is the condition of that patient's body before we start doing anything on them.
People have mentioned bad valves and getting bacteria in the bloodstream that get to the valve, infect the heart and cause damage so severe that a new heart is needed.
But also, if a patient has high blood pressure. We all know that going to the dentist is stressful. Well what will that do to the patient's blood pressure? Epinephrine or adrenaline is in the anaesthetic we use to freeze the patients. A dentist does not want to use adrenal on a patient with high blood pressure because that will cause the blood pressure to rise. High blood pressure may cause prolonged bleeding if a procedure is performed where some bleeding occurs.
Or is the patient on blood thinners to prevent a heart attack or stroke? This is important to know before removing a tooth or two and starting some bleeding that won't stop.
These are just some examples to show you why dentists take a medical history and why it is important for patients to tell dentists what their medical condition is.

Answer 3

I was born with a heart murmer and I have to take an antibiotic everytime I go to the dentist...even if it's for a simple cleaning.

The reason I take the medicine is because it helps protect my heart valve against infective or bacterial endocarditis as well as more severe heart conditions that can arise after certain dental procedures involving possible bleeding. When bleeding occurs during dental treatment, bacteria from the mouth possibly can enter the bloodstream. It is possible that these bacteria could work their way to the heart. This is very similar for heart disease patients. Not just those with a heart murmer.

You DEFINATELY need to talk to both your doctor and your dentist if you have a heart condition such as this.

Answer 4

well there can be various kinds of bad heart like higher blood pressure , prosthetic valves, rheumatic dieseases etc.
yes its essential information for any dentist as if suffering a higher blood pressure and not a diagnosed case or not under medication can lead to various comlpications like prolonged bleeding after being operated which would not stop for hours till the pressure comes to normal, sometimes it may even lead to a condition called shock in some cases with very high pressure, mostly the anesthetics used in dental clinics contain adrenaline a vasoconstrictor in various concentrations which can elevate the heart rate and therby may lead to further complications and therby dentist would try to bring the blood pressure to normal or at a safe level so that there are no chances of such complications and can even decide the right kind of anaesthetic as per the patients pressure status.
in dental procedures there are more chances of bacteremia as bacterias come in direct contact with the bleeding and thus can reach to the endocardium via blood stream and certain individuals are more liable to endocarditis and valvitis and therby can lead to endocarditis or valvitis or sometimes pericarditis, some people have prosthetic valve and therby are more liable to infections, some people have artificial pace makers or they are suffering from rheumatic dieseases like arthritis which again increases the liability towards infection and dentist would operate under the required dose of antibiotics so that he can save you from getting infected.
so its not good but strictly advisable to report the condition to your dentist inorder to avoid comlpications post operative or while being opetrated .

Answer 5

Bleeding in the mouth can cause bacteria to enter the bloodstream and attack the heart. People with existing heart problems are at a higher risk and should take antibiotics before receiving treatment.

Answer 6

simple - if the dentist doesn't know it, you can die. a prolapsed mitral valve is the one that can cause the most damage. high blood pressue and disfunctioning vavles can lead to massive infection and in turn the infection can kill you in just a few short hours or days.