This is a true story told to me by the wife of a dental patient with a heart murmur (mostly in her words).

Three months ago my husband lost part of a filling and used a temporary fix he bought at a Drug Store. What he didn’t realize was the need to have this looked at by a dental professional. He assumed no pain, so why rush to the dentist? Especially when he feared the dentist!

1. At 40-years old,  no medical or dental professional had ever told him he would more susceptible to blood infections because he was born with a heart murmur.

2. He started sleeping a lot more, not wanting to do too much. He just assumed he stayed up too late.

3. Then he started getting low grade fevers that would only go away with aspirin.

4. He went to the doctor and was diagnosed with the Swine flu. He was told to rest and that the virus seemed to be near its end.

5. Another week went by and the doctor told him to go to the hospital to get a blood culture. That’s what they do when they can’t figure out what is causing a fever.

6. Yet another week went by and the blood culture results confirmed that he had a strep (streptococcus) infection of the blood that may have infected his heart valves. He was admitted to the hospital on a Friday where IV antibiotics were administered immediately. [Read more →]

1. I brush my teeth every morning and every night.
2. I floss at least twice a day.
3. Of course, I took all of my antibiotics.

Don’t bother lying. Your dental hygienist will know if you’re not brushing and flossing or taking prescribed antibiotics. You will be poked, prodded, and measured during every visit.

More importantly, don’t lie to yourself and risk gum disease and tooth loss.

Keep smiling.

Saundra Goodman
Got Teeth? A Survivor’s Guide
How to keep your teeth or live without them.
http://www.gotteethguide.com/ for your Free Tips.

In November, my periodontist performed alveoloplasty surgery in my upper jaw to remove bone chips, bone spurs, bone splinters, and an infected root tip.

He added material into both sides of my jawbone to fill up spaces where my jawbone had been reabsorbed, stitched me up, and sent me home to finish my antibiotics. You bet I got pain medication. [Read more →]

The American Heart Association (AHA) believed for decades that dental patients with heart disease should premedicate with antibiotics before dental procedures. It was determined that premedication would prevent bacteria from entering the bloodstream and creating an infection in the heart’s lining or valves.

The AHA’s new guidelines recommend that, “most of these patients no longer need short-term antibiotics as a preventive measure before their dental treatment.”

The following people who routinely took prophylactic antibiotics in the past no longer need to:

1. Mitral valve prolapse
2. Rheumatic heart disease
3. Bicuspid valve disease
4. Calcified aortic stenosis
5. Congenital heart conditions: ventricular septal defect, atrial septal defect and hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. [Read more →]