Heart conditions and dental care

Hello @Michie‍, thank you for opening this discussion! I'm sorry to hear about your tooth troubles, that must have been so painful!

I believe we often have to be careful with dental work before and after heart surgery and when you have a cardiovascular disease, as the bacteria in our mouths can travel through the bloodstream to the heart. Some medications for cardiovascular conditions like blood thinners can also pose a risk during dental procedures.

Has anyone else had dental issues that have affected your cardiovascular illness? Or has your condition affected your dental health or treatments?
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Feel free to share here!

Take care,
Courtney

@Michie Hi Michie,

Major illnesses and treatments have a large impact on teeth and there is little provision out to help. I had many gum issues and infections post neck cancer treatment. On tap anti-biotics were the norm as infection spread to the bone and little dentists could do. I ended up with the removal of most of my rear teeth as each tooth fell to infection. So dentists hopelessly overwhelmed with the issues and lack of proper funding in the hospital treatments left me with this infection disaster. 

Yes heart conditions are directly linked to teeth and mouth infections/decay. There seems a common theme of lack of the NHS connection to dentistry and the rest of the health service. Together with cutbacks in funding in our teeth health putting us all at risk. Unless you can afford it of course, most of my teeth could have been saved but only privately costing ten of thousands, stay safe!

Dental and gum problems have been a major concern for me for several years. Being on epilepsy medication for 48 years has caused more tooth decay and sensitive gums. I've had to have a few of my top and bottom teeth out, but get a routine dental appointment through NHS every 6 months for a check up. The use of Phenytoin for epilepsy over 30 years has probably had the most impact on dental hygiene.