If you have had a joint replacement or any joint surgery, or a heart replacement (or any heart surgery), it is crucial to tell your dentist before they get to work perfecting your smile. Make sure to tell them if you have any kind of heart condition, too.
This is important because if you have had surgery on your heart or joints, you may need to take antibiotics to give you an additional layer of protection before having surgery on your teeth.
Key takeaways:
– Surgery can weaken your immune system
– Foreign bacteria can prompt your body to reject artificial joints
– Bacteria can accrue around artificial heart valves
Bacteria can enter your bloodstream more readily after dental surgery or tooth extraction. Learn more about the need for antibiotics in this piece.
Matthew Houlton BDS(Sheffield) MFGDP(UK)I’m Matthew Houlton, principal dentist and practice owner of Manor House Dental Practice.
Qualified from Sheffield dental hospital in 1993.
Post graduate training with Paul Tipton (Specialist Prosthodontist) from 2005-2007.
Diploma for Membership of the Faculty of General Dental Practice (UK) 2007.
Special interest in Orthodontics.
Yorkshire Deanary Fixed Appliance Training Scheme 2002-2004.
I have worked at York Hospital’s orthodontic department one session a week since 2009.
Member of the British Society of Occlusal Studies (the study of temporomandibular disorder).
I have two children, who keep me busy when I am not at the practice. I take a keen interest in and teach Aikido, a martial art, to keep a healthy mind and body.
