Posted by Dr. Lee on Sep 30 2019, 08:28 AM
Prophylactic antibiotics are a type of antibiotic medicine taken to prevent infections. Usually, you take an antibiotic when you have an infection, but your doctor often gives you one beforehand your treatment to prevent infection. Prophylactic antibiotics are usually given when there is a greater risk of contraction infections from certain procedures. Here’s why your dentist may recommend you to take prophylactic antibiotics.
You may have heard a friend or a family member take a pill before their dental works; ever wondered why so? This is because there are bacteria inside everyone’s mouth, and during certain dental treatments, there is a higher risk of these bacteria traveling to our bloodstream. However, this risk is often negligible, and patients do not require to take pills since their immune system is quick to respond and kill them.
However, for some patients, this occurrence, called bacteremia, is a cause for concern as their body’s immune system is not able to identify the outsider and kill it. These bacteria, if not killed, can travel to other places of the body and result in life-threatening infections like endocarditis in infection of the inner lining of your heart chambers and valves.
Through the years, the use of prophylactic antibiotics has changed. Recently, the American Dental Association (ADA) and the American Heart Association have found out that patients with cancer, chemotherapy, diabetes, and rheumatoid arthritis can benefit from this preventive method.
Not just his, patients with heart conditions such as artificial valves, heart transplants, unrepaired cyanotic congenital heart disease, and repair heart defects might need antibiotics before any dental procedure is done.
The following dental procedures may contain the risk of bacteria infection:
And many similar procedures require a patient to take a pill. However, procedures like X-rays, denture placements, anesthetic injections, and non-invasive orthodontic treatments do not generally require a prophylactic antibiotic.
Most patients’ immune systems are healthy enough to fight bacteria that might enter their bloodstream. So there is no need to worry right after reading this article, thinking that you may be one of them. However, it is better to consult your dentist and take their advice if they ask you to take a prophylactic antibiotic.
Infections following a dental procedure are very rare, and you may be just exempted from it.
Now you can prevent dental infections with the most advanced help of East burn Dentistry and Implants. Dr. Daniel Lee and his team of dental experts are here to help you. Call us at 503 2334871 or visit our website for more details. We are located at 1415 SE Ankeny St, Portland, OR 97214.
