Interesting read in daily mail today

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-3492196/Why-trip-dentist-lethal-heart-patients-high-risk-infection-unlike-country-don-t-antibiotics.html

2 Comments

Hi Chatterbox......

by Tattoo Man - 2016-03-15 07:03:16



Thanks for this information. I have read the article and it asks some very important questions.......

What is the true correlation between the relatively recent cessation of obligatory antibiotic 'Cover' and the dramatic increase of hospital admissions for cardiac infections ??

How does this square with the, generally agreed view that too many antibiotics are prescribed with the resultant reduction of long term effectiveness ?

Will it be neccesary for N.I.C.E in the UK to review its policy on the likes of massive Three Gram doses of Amoxicillin before any dental work for cardiac patients ??

This has been, historically a very 'insurance-lead' issue.

When I was in Glenfield Hospital, Leicester UK some nine years ago, I witnessed, first hand, what patients with such infections actually looked like....one poor guy was SO infected that he had spent WEEKS hooked up to some kind of 'blood washing machine' so that he could have the remote chance of a vital heart operation.......his infection was the result of a wisdom tooth op that went very bad..

I shall have a word with my UK Cardiologist Dr Andrew Houghton...the founder of the Grantham ' Beat-It' cardiac support group.

With all due respect Chatterbox....the Daily Mail is often seen as a bit of a biased rag..but here, its my view that it has highlighted a very important medical issue that affects ALL people ..be they cardiac patients or not..

Toothpaste companies could put the fear of ( any Deity you want ) up the public if they used this kind of information.

Mrs Tattoo Man and I have recently bought a Phillips 'Sonicare' pressure flosser....now this can produce gum-bleeding very easily...I do think that a debate on this device is well worth pursuing...

On a lighter note, I shall be in Grantham UK tomorrow between 2pm and 4pm at the Beat-It stand for the Lincolnshire Health Roadshow...come along if you can if you live nearby.....Don...see if you can make it if your Blackbird is still in flying order !!!!!!!!

Best wishes

Tattoo Man

Interesting, Thanks chatterbox

by IAN MC - 2016-03-15 08:03:22

This article reports that a man with a weakened heart valve unfortunately died from infective endocarditis. His death MAY ( or may not ) have been linked to a trip to a dental hygienist who a) was fairly vicious and b) didn't give him antibiotics

In typical Daily Mail style it is big in sensationalist headlines and very low in balanced content. It conveniently did not mention current thinking that :-

- there is no proven link between trips to the dentist and the development of cardiac infections

- Regular brushing of the teeth almost certainly gives greater exposure to bacteria and arguably greater risk of developing I.E. than does a single dental procedure . The man in this article brushed his teeth for half an hour twice a day !! not altogether normal behaviour.

- there is no reliable evidence proving that antibiotic cover during dental procedures prevents I.E. from occurring

- it is highly likely that the risk of the antibiotic killing you because of an anaphylactic reaction is far greater than the risks of dying from I.E. after dental treatment

The use of antibiotics by dentists is falling but is still at worrying levels ( 7 % of all a/b usage in the UK is by dentists. ) A substantial amount of that antibiotic usage is for viral infections e.g herpes simplex ( cold sores ) where antibiotics have no effect whatsoever.

Most dentists have a very poor understanding of antibiotics unfortunately .

Interesting article but totally unbalanced I.M. O.

Ian

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