Dental issue whilst waiting for aortic valve replacement

[Annie-blue]

I have a Severe AS diagnosis and am on 6 monthly echos, with surgery now being discussed. To top it all I now have a dental issue that requires either root canal treatment plus crown etc etc or more likely an extraction. The dentist has given me a prescription for Amoxicillin to be taken 1 hour before treatment. I am a bit nervous about entrusting my heart to a dentist. Has anyone else had a dental issue whilst waiting for OHS and how was it approached please? Did you talk to your GP or consultant first?

[road2ruin]

Hi,

You will be required to have a dental check up before surgery anyway to highlight any potential problems in the future. If this is an issue now it is highly likely they will want you to have it done before surgery, as the risk is lower than after surgery.

I had a tooth extraction post surgery and I bled for about 2 days, so I would say get it done.

[Annie-blue in reply to road2ruin]

Thank you. That's reassuring. I'm probably going straight for extraction and will hopefully avoid more problems in the future.

[080311]

Morning,

I was in hospital ( as I was very sick) waiting for my AVR and had to have my dental check before surgery. This involved an extraction and a deep clean. This was done not at the hospital, so was sent in the care of a nurse!

Is your dentist aware of your heart issues? And your upcoming surgery? You will need your dental check anyway before your surgery. If you feel nervous than give your cardiologist secretary a ring and get her to find out if there is anything your dentist should be aware of.

Nothing worse than dental problems.

Best wishes Pauline

[Annie-blue in reply to 080311]

Hi Pauline. Yes the dentist is aware - she looked it up and then prescribed the amoxycillin. Good idea to give the cardiologist secretary a call. I'll do that.

[Seaguller in reply to 080311]

Hi Pauline. How did your surgery go?

[080311 in reply to Seaguller]

Hi Seaguller,

Had my surgery 5 years ago AVR and bypass. Everything went well in the heart hospital 7 days Pryor to that in my local hospital for 7 weeks while they got rid of the excess fluid I was on a diuretic drip twice a day. My heart was so weak it couldn’t cope with the fluid. They needed me as fit as possible to face the surgery.

Pauline

[Hidden]

Hello Annie-blue.

I read your post with great interest, I never had this problem as even though I needed dental work done {due to covid had been over a year overdue} my heart op, triple bypass didn’t need it.

This was told me by my consultant and confirmed by my GP.

I found it interesting that for valve operations this is a must for.

Even my regular private dentist would not touch me while I was waiting for the op and on so many meds.

I even applied to the hospital dentist {which I was ready to pay for} but they have no slots available.

Phoning around my area has drawn a blank and to be honest I’m not ready to be pulled around by a dentist yet.

Take care,

[Annie-blue]

Hi Thanks for your reply. I'm not on any meds and the tooth is probably infected so I don't think there's a lot of choice here - just trying to get my head around it and cover all the bases.

[Cliff_G]

Annie-blue, antibiotic cover if you have a cardiac-type problem where infection can cause endocarditis (e.g. I have a metal aortic valve) is a standard procedure. Not sure about AS (aortic stenosis?). However, if you have an infected tooth, having it fixed under antibiotic cover is probably safer than not having the tooth fixed. Usual proviso: I am not a doctor!