Patients who are unsure should check with your doctor prior to their appointment.
A pre-medication is sometimes recommended when patients have undergone joint replacements or other implants. Please check with your doctor to see what is recommended.
On April 19, 2007 the American Heart Association released new guidelines for heart patients regarding the use of antibiotics beofre dental procedures. After an extensive review of scientific literature from 1950 to 2006, the AHA found that only an extremely small number of cases of infective endocarditis (IE) might be prevented by antibiotic pre-medication for denatl procedures and that the risks of taking antibiotic pre-meds far outweighs their benefits.
The following are the new guidelines.
Patients No Longer Needing to Antibiotic Pre-Medicate (Most Patients)
- Mitral valve prolapse
- Rheumatic heart disease
- Bicuspid Valve disease
- Calcified aortic stenosis
- Less serious congenital heart conditions:
- Hypertropihic Cardiomyopathy
- Ventricular Septal Defect
- Artial Septal Defect
Patients Still Recommended to Take Antibiotic Pre-Medication (Few Patients)
- Artificial heart valves
- History of endocarditis
- Certain serious congenital heart conditions:
- Unrepaired or incompletely repaired cyanotic congenital heart disease including those with pallative shunts and condits
- A completely repaired congenital heart defect with prosthetic material or device, whether placed by surgery or by catheter intervention, during the first 6 months after the procedure.
- Any repaired congenital heart defect with residual defect at the site or adjacent to the site of prosthetic patch or a prosthetic device
- Heart transplant patients who develop a problem in a heart valve
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