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Dental work after THR

Posted , 13 users are following.

diannesk
diannesk

I've read that most dental procedures should wait until about 3 months after THR.

Wondering about antibiotics before dental procedures. I know it's not always necessary as it was in the past, but has anyone had their dentists suggest taking them?

2 likes, 18 replies

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  • Anne68156
    Anne68156 diannesk

    Posted

    My dental hygienist said that I would need antibiotics before every dental cleaning. I spoke with the surgeon and he said that it is not necessary. He also said that the ADA has come out against automatic antibiotics following hip replacement surgery. I checked on their website and that is true. I told the dentist that my surgeon did not feel the need for antibiotics and he said that they follow the surgeon's guidelines. So if you surgeon says to take them, then I suppose you should, even though the ADA is against it. And the overuse of antibiotics puts us all at risk for infections that are antibiotic resistant.

  • anniepaint
    anniepaint diannesk

    Posted

    I had antibiotics recently but only because I had a periodontal abscess. My dentist said you don’t need them for most dental procedures anymore post THR.  I checked on the NHS website and they agreed. Not necessary. 
  • Treetee4
    Treetee4 diannesk

    Posted

    My surgeon recommends antibiotics for all dental procedures too..
  • maggie93798
    maggie93798 diannesk

    Posted

    No longer thought to be necessary in all cases, the risk of encouraging the emergence of multi resistant bacteria outweighs any other consideration for the great majority of people. A transient bacteraemia may be caused by dental work, and by brushing as well, but the healthy immonocompetant person will deal with it without antibiotics. Those with a complicated medical history need to be dealt with on an individual basis.
  • michael11283
    michael11283 diannesk

    Posted

    Diannesk

    I discussed it with my dentist and he said the UK dental association no longer recommend it. So I had work done without antibiotics (and I had had a two stage replacement following bone infection)

    Mike

  • marcia_46690
    marcia_46690 diannesk

    Posted

    My surgeon wants me to take 4 500 mg antibiotics one hour before each dental appt. for two years. Rather be safe than sorry. I'm in California.

    • anniepaint
      anniepaint marcia_46690

      Posted

      If research shows its not necessary then taking them is not about being safe. It’s risky to take drugs without reason. Even antibiotics have side effects but the biggest danger is that overuse of antibiotics may cause them not to work when you really do need them. If we dont have antibiotics available because they don’t work we would all be very sorry and no one would be safe. Double check with your surgeon and ask why they recommend this against the advice of most of the health authorities. There are lots of treatments that have been rethought over the years in the light of evidence based research. When I first qualified as a nurse people were often kept on bed rest postop but now people are encouraged to be up and about asap. I’m sure when the rules started to change some people were worried to go against what was the routine previously but now we see it is safer. Unless there’s an active infection, routine dental work no longer needs antibiotic prophylaxis. 
    • maggie93798
      maggie93798 anniepaint

      Posted

      I totally agree. As it is usually ampicillin, amoxicillin or even augmentin the effect is to knock out most of the normal oral flora both gram negative and gram positive bacteria including the anaerobes. 
  • diannesk
    diannesk

    Posted

    Thank you to all who replied to my question.

    I also read that it's not considered necessary in most situations.

    I'll ask my surgeon for his opinion when I see him next month.

  • hope4cure
    hope4cure diannesk

    Posted

    Yes if you can wait it’s better to wait 3 months after surgery. If not check with your surgeon. The recommended amount of antiobiotics is 2000 mg, before . I also require diflucan one ?? before dental treatments. This keeps the gut bacteria balanced. Many antiobiotics kill all the good bacteria in the gut and yeast takes over causing yeast infections. 🙀

    O just had one pulled,,, ugh! 🤦???But if dental is only for cleaning and no bleeding issues in my case, then antibiotics are not needed. 

    Take care 

    • diannesk
      diannesk hope4cure

      Posted

      I knew about the 3 month recommendation. Just wondering for future reference.

      I have a "heart thing" (not life threatening) and used to have to take antibiotic before dental. That recommendation was changed.

  • Guest
    Guest diannesk

    Posted

    My surgeon said 6 months before next dentist visit then antibiotics before dental cleanings and work for the rest of my life.
  • Ducksoup
    Ducksoup diannesk

    Posted

    I guess all surgeons are different in regards to this issue?
    • Anne68156
      Anne68156 Ducksoup

      Posted

      You would think that all surgeons would be on the same page when it comes to recent findings on the use of antibiotics in these situations. When we know how devastating antibiotic resistant infections can be, why is the overuse of antibiotics still continuing if they have been found to be unnecessary?

       

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