Heart patients can undergo dental surgery
DENTAL procedures, including surgeries, are safe for patients with heart conditions, says Dr. Sudhakar Reddy, the director of Dental Implant Studio in Bengaluru.
The procedure itself is never the problem. Even its success rate is high. Trouble only arises if the surgeon concerned is unmindful of the drugs the patients are taking for their heart.
Hear Dr. Sudhakar Reddy speak on it:
The heart patients who visit Dr. Sudhakar Reddy are usually seniors needing tooth replacement. Many of them are already on blood thinners.
Blood thinner drugs act to prevent the blood from clotting. They are given to patients who either have an existing heart condition or run the risk having one.
When such patients are operated on, the bleeding at site becomes hard to control. Often, they come back to the dental surgeon concerned, complaining of incessant bleeding.
An experienced dental surgeon, however, never lets things get to that point. In consultation with the patients’ heart doctor, the surgeon takes them off the blood thinners for a few days before surgery.
Safety protocols
It is important for a dental surgeon to interview the patients before any operation. He will need to know the health status of the patients including every detail of the drugs they are taking. “It is an important protocol to be followed. Usually patients tend not to disclose the details unless expressly asked of them.”
Other than the interview, the doctor must also take steps to lower anxiety and stress in the patients, especially those in their senior years. Pre-operation anxieties are a common occurrence and could lead to blood pressure spikes — dangerous for any heart patient.
Dr. Sudhakar Reddy speaks of the protocols he follows:
Authored By DR. SUDHAKAR REDDY – Implantologist, Bangalore