Overview
Heart disease is also known as a cardiac disease which is an umbrella term for any type of disorder related to the heart. Giving importance to your dental hygiene and health not only keep your mouth healthy but may keep your heart healthy too. There is some evidence which shows that the two are inter-related but experts say that there is still a lot of ambiguity in the interlink between the two. The experts are still researching on the possible relation between the heart disease and dental care. Conjectures are that the bacteria in the mouth that causes gum disease move into the blood stream and cause inflammation in the blood vessels which ultimately contributes to the heart disease and strokes.
Infective Endocarditis
Infective Endocarditis is an inflammation of the inner tissues of the heart and may include the endocardium, and one or more heart valves. It is a very rare condition when the bacteria in the mouth may trigger endocarditis in people. What exactly happens is that the bacteria found in the tooth infection may multiply and cause gum disease. If this gum disease is not treated at the earlier stage, it becomes advanced. The gums become red and swollen and often bleed during brushing or flossing. Through bleeding gums, the bacteria can enter the blood stream and other parts of the body can get infected. In the case of endocarditis, the bacteria affect the inner tissues of the heart and sticks to the surfaces of its valves. Since this case is so rare, it is suggested the antibiotics should be given prior to the dental treatment to the patients who are suffering from endocarditis.
High Blood Pressure
Some high blood pressure medicines can lead to dry mouth and can alter your sense of taste. Calcium channel blockers given to the high blood pressure patient can cause swelling in the gum tissues resulting in chewing difficulties. If the dental procedures require anesthesia which contains epinephrine, should be avoided. Use of epinephrine in some patients with high blood pressure may result in cardiac changes along with angina, heart attack, and development of dangerously high blood pressure.
Angina
Angina is a type of chest pain caused because of the low blood supply to the heart. Gum overgrowth can be seen in patients of angina who are getting treatment of calcium channel blockers. Patients who get a predictable pattern of chest pain (stable angina) can undergo any type of dental procedure while patients with unstable angina shouldn’t undergo nonessential dental procedures. The unavoidable dental procedure should be performed with cardiac monitoring.
Congestive Heart Failure
Patients having no side effects or complications during congestive heart failure, usually have no special concerns in undergoing dental treatment. But patients who have congestive heart failure should undergo dental procedures with cardiac monitoring. Medications of congestive heart failure may sometimes cause an altered sense of taste and xerostomia (dry mouth).
Coronary artery bypass surgery
Coronary artery bypass surgery is a surgical procedure in which the blocked or narrowed artery is bypassed by grafting another artery from another part of the body. The patient who has undergone coronary artery bypass might experience severe pain while reclining on the dental chair as this is the side effect of the surgery. Antibiotics are required only if the surgery has taken place few weeks before visiting the dentist.
Pacemaker
Pacemaker is a device installed inside the chest or abdomen to maintain the pace of the heart beats or control abnormal heart rhythms. All the dental electromagnetic devices should be avoided during the dental procedure if the patient has a pacemaker. If possible, dental treatment should be avoided several weeks after the pacemaker surgery.
Conclusion
Indian Healthguru, the medical tourism consultants, is a one stop solution for all your heart and dental care problems. We provide you with India’s best cardiologists and dentists. We have collaboration with top hospitals (cardiac and dental hospitals/clinics) of India. The cost of surgery in India is very affordable as compared to western nations which are why it has become the leading destination for health care and treatment. We give you assistance in finding the best hospital and surgeon at a budgeted cost. To know more about the top cardiologists and dentists of India.
You can visit our site: http://www.indianhealthguru.com/ or send your query to contact@indianhealthguru.com.
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