American Heart Association changes to antibiotic prophylaxis or premedication requirements for dental patients

For decades, the American Heart Association (AHA) recommended that patients with certain heart conditions take antibiotics shortly before dental treatment. This was done with the belief that antibiotics would prevent infective endocarditis (IE), previously referred to as bacterial endocarditis. IE is an infection of the heart’s inner lining or valves, which results when bacteria enter the bloodstream and travel to the heart. Bacteria normally are found in various sites of the body including on the skin and in the mouth.

The AHA’s latest guidelines were published in its scientific journal, Circulation, in April 2007 and there is good news: the AHA recommends that most of these patients no longer need short-term antibiotics as a preventive measure before their dental treatment. Continued...

Bisphosphonate medications and their risks of Osteonecrosis of the jaw

If you use a bisphosphonate medication - to prevent or treat osteoporosis (a thinning of the bones) or as part of cancer treatment therapy - you should advise your dentist. In fact, any time your health history or medications change, you should make sure the dental office has the most recent information in your patient file. Here's why:

Some bisphosphonate medications (such as Fosamax, Actonel, Boniva) are taken orally (swallowed) to help prevent or treat osteoporosis and Paget's disease of the bone. Others, such as Aredia, Bonefos, Didronel or Zometa, are administered intravenously (injected into a vein) as part of cancer therapy to reduce bone pain and hypercalcemia of malignancy (abnormally high calcium levels in the blood), associated with metastatic breast cancer, prostate cancer and multiple myeloma. Continued...