husband with heart disease/stents and dentist - Heart Disorders Message Board

rose827 · 05-18-2007, 10:50 AM

Hi,
My husband (age 45) has three stents, and suffered a major MI in 2001. He went to his dentist as his tooth cracked and she does not want to do any treatment until he can find out from our cardiologist if he needs to take antiobiotics prior to crown treatment given the stents. Last stent was put in his rca in November 2006. Dentist did put a temporary filling in, but will not do anything else. I don't blame her for her caution. We can't get through to the cardio's office as of yet. Does anyone with stents/heart disease have any information or feedback? My husband is not in any pain due to the cracked tooth or the filling that fell out...just wondering if anyone out there has been in the same position. Thanks!

tzzzz216 · 05-18-2007, 12:33 PM

I had my mi 2002 lost a third of it the first time also in the rca then i had another one almost a year to the day another mi , but i have 5 stents in me , but yes when i go to the dentist they have me take antibiotics before they do any work on me , but remember each case is different so check with his cardio Dr. first .

Lenin · 05-19-2007, 07:30 AM

I was looking at some deep root scaling and an extraction or two and I have a stent. I e-mailed my doctor (PCP) and asked for a call in for an Rx for an antibiotic.
He said, "NO you don't need it. Besides it will be for too many visits and thus it would have to be taken too often."

I went into my personal stash, which I like to keep for emergencies and took 1 gram of Penicillin-V before and after each procedure...AND FIRED MY DOCTOR! I should have done it YEARS ago and this was just the last straw.
Good riddance to bad rubbish.

A case of endocarditis is nothing to be cavalier about.

ttibsen · 05-19-2007, 11:17 AM

I agree - best to err on the side of caution. Penicillin (assuming he's not allergic to it) is harmless so what's the big deal about taking 2 grams (that's 4 500mg. tablets) an hour before the dental procedure?

John

Matt212 · 10-23-2007, 11:40 AM

I'd just like to say that I've had endocarditis twice - and I can safely say that it is a horrible, nasty thing which can be easily avoided with the correct anti-biotic cover.

First time I got it - through a bad tooth, I spent three weeks in hospital on intravenous anti-biotics.

The second time I got it ( through a cut in my foot ) I had septecemia, abcesses on the heart, a DVT, and all manner of horrible things go wrong with me, before they had to replace my aortic valve with emergency surgery. If you have any worries about your ticker, I would say that it's totally and utterly necessary not to take any risks.

Good luck !