Many of you take an antibiotic prior to dental treatment. The purpose is to use an antibiotic prior to an infection to prevent an infection. It may be because of a mitral valve prolapse, certain types of implants, a joint replacement, or a heart murmur cause by a roughened heart valve. Antibiotic prophylaxis began initially to prevent bacterial endocarditis. Endocarditis is the collection and colonization of bacteria in the heart muscle. This leads to inflammation and deformation of the heart and is a life-threatening condition.
Antibiotic Prophylaxis Is Recommended For The Following:
High-Risk Category
- Prosthetic cardiac valves,including bioprosthetic and homograft valves
- Previous bacterial endocarditis
- Complex cyanotic congenital heart disease (e.g., single ventricle states, transposition of the great arteries, tetralogy of Fallot)
- Surgically constructed systemic pulmonary shunts or conduits
Moderate-Risk Category
- Most other congenital cardiac malformations (other than above and below)
- Acquired valvar dysfunction (e.g., rheumatic heart disease)
- Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy
- Mitral valve prolapse with valvar regurgitation and/or thickened leaflets
Antibiotic Prophylaxis Is Not Recommended For The Following:
Negligible-Risk Category (No Greater Risk Than The General Population)
- Isolated secundum atrial septal defect
- Surgical repair of atrial septal defect, ventricular septal defect, or patent ductus arteriosus
- Previous coronary artery bypass graft surgery
- Mitral valve prolapse without valvar regurgitation
- Physiologic, functional, or innocent heart murmurs
- Previous Kawasaki disease without valvar dysfunction
- Previous rheumatic fever without valvar dysfunction
- Cardiac pacemakers (intravascular and epicardial) and implanted defibrillators
For High & Moderate Risk Patients
Antibiotic Prophylaxis Is Recommended For The Following Dental Procedures:
- Dental extractions
- Periodontal procedures including surgery, scaling and root planing, probing, and recall maintenance
- Dental implant placement and reimplantation of avulsed teeth
- Endodontic (root canal) instrumentation or surgery only beyond the apex
- Subgingival placement of antibiotic fibers or strips
- Initial placement of orthodontic bands but not brackets
- Intraligamentary local anesthetic injections
- Prophylactic cleaning of teeth or implants where bleeding is anticipated
Antibiotic Prophylaxis Is Not Recommended For The Following Dental Procedures
- Restorative dentistry (operative and prosthodontic) with or without retraction cord
- Local anesthetic injections (nonintraligamentary)
- Intracanal endodontic treatment; post placement and buildup
- Placement of rubber dams, postoperative suture removal, taking of oral impressions, and fluoride treatments
- Placement of removable prosthodontic or orthodontic appliances and orthodontic appliance adjustment
- Taking of oral radiographs
- Shedding of primary teeth