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Antibiotic
Prophylaxis Letter
In 2007 the American Heart Association
updated the regime for antibiotic prophylaxis prior to dental
treatment. The Canadian Dental Association has adopted these
changes and as a result fewer people are candidates for antibiotic
prophylaxis, with only high risk patients qualifying.
In light of the
changes,Crescent
Park Dental will require a letter from your family Doctor or
specialist in order to stop antibiotic prophylaxis prior to dental
treatment.
This in no way affects
patients requiring antibiotics due to joint replacement.
You may need preventive
antibiotics before all high risk dental procedures if:
- You’ve
had a joint replacement less than two years ago
-
You’ve had previous infections in your artificial joint
-
You’ve had an inflammatory type of arthritis, type 1 diabetes or
hemophilia
-
You’ve had a suppressed immune system or are
malnourished
-
You’ve had a history of prior to present malnourishment
Overall the changes in
the regime is meant to only treat patient that are at high risk of
developing infective endocarditis and to decrease the amount of
antibiotics prescribed.
In light of these
changes, Crescent Park Dental requires a letter from your family
Doctor or specialist indicating whether or not antibiotics are
required by you prior to dental treatment. Please have your
family doctor provide a letter to us if antibiotics are not
required prior to booking your next appointment. Otherwise
we will continue to require antibiotics before
treatment.
Thank you for your
co-operation.
Dr. Alisa
Lange
Dr. David London
Dr. Heather
Barnes Dr. Cindy
Sidhu
“New guidelines regarding
antibiotics to prevent infective endocarditis”
The American Heart
Association recently updated its guidelines regarding which
patients should take a precautionary antibiotic to prevent
infective endocarditis (IE) before a trip to the
dentist.
The guidelines, published in
Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association, are based
on a growing body of scientific evidence that shows that, for most
people, the risks of taking prophylaxis antibiotics for certain
procedures outweigh the benefits. These guidelines represent a
major change in philosophy.
The new guidelines show
taking preventive antibiotics is not necessary for most people and,
in fact, might create more harm than good. Unnecessary use of
antibiotics could cause allergic reactions and dangerous antibiotic
resistance.
Only the people at greatest
risk of bad outcomes from infective endocarditis — an infection of
the heart's inner lining or the heart valves — should receive
short-term preventive antibiotics before common, routine dental and
medical procedures.
Patients at the greatest
danger of bad outcomes from IE and for whom preventive antibiotics
are worth the risks include those with
- artificial heart
valves
- a history of having had
IE
- certain specific, serious
congenital (present from birth) heart conditions,
including:
- unrepaired or incompletely
repaired cyanotic congenital heart disease, including those with
palliative shunts and conduits
- a completely repaired
congenital heart defect with prosthetic material or device, whether
placed by surgery or by catheter interventions, during the first
six months after the procedure
- any repaired congenital
heart defect with residual defect at the site or adjacent to the
site of a prosthetic patch or prosthetic device
- a cardiac transplant which
develops a problem in a heart valve.”
From the American Heart
Association website – originally published April
2007. | 