M
Marge
I may have to have a dental procedure called a "root planing" in the near future. I am a rotten dental patient, so I inquired about having sedation dentistry.
My regular dentist does not do sedation dentistry. She referred me to another dentist who does do it. He took my medical history, and said that because of my history of mitral valve repair and a-flutter, he is hesitant about doing sedation dentistry. The procedure involves "conscious sedation", using a sedative called Triazolam. Triazolam has some of the amnesiac effects of Versed but, I am told, is not nearly as powerful as Versed. I told the dentist that I have had Versed on several occasions (TEE, etc.) with no problems, but he said, "Well, but that was in a hospital lab with emergency facilities nearby if anything went wrong. We don't have that, we're just a dental office."
I called my cardiologist's office and talked to his nurse; she talked to the cardio and says he says sedation dentistry is OK for me. She sent me a "clearance for dental procedures," signed by the cardio which does not, however, specifically mention "sedation dentistry," so I don't know if the dentist will feel it is sufficient. (However, she said for the dentist to feel free to call the cardio if there were still problems.)
I think the bottom line is that the dentists these days are desperately worried about potential liability. (I do know there have been some bad incidents involving sedation dentistry; there was a story in the local paper several months ago about some kid dying in the dental office while undergoing it.)
I was wondering whether any of you who have had a heart history like mine (or similar) have had sedation dentistry. Did you have any problems getting a dentist to do it, and, if you did have it, was there any problem with the procedure itself?
My regular dentist does not do sedation dentistry. She referred me to another dentist who does do it. He took my medical history, and said that because of my history of mitral valve repair and a-flutter, he is hesitant about doing sedation dentistry. The procedure involves "conscious sedation", using a sedative called Triazolam. Triazolam has some of the amnesiac effects of Versed but, I am told, is not nearly as powerful as Versed. I told the dentist that I have had Versed on several occasions (TEE, etc.) with no problems, but he said, "Well, but that was in a hospital lab with emergency facilities nearby if anything went wrong. We don't have that, we're just a dental office."
I called my cardiologist's office and talked to his nurse; she talked to the cardio and says he says sedation dentistry is OK for me. She sent me a "clearance for dental procedures," signed by the cardio which does not, however, specifically mention "sedation dentistry," so I don't know if the dentist will feel it is sufficient. (However, she said for the dentist to feel free to call the cardio if there were still problems.)
I think the bottom line is that the dentists these days are desperately worried about potential liability. (I do know there have been some bad incidents involving sedation dentistry; there was a story in the local paper several months ago about some kid dying in the dental office while undergoing it.)
I was wondering whether any of you who have had a heart history like mine (or similar) have had sedation dentistry. Did you have any problems getting a dentist to do it, and, if you did have it, was there any problem with the procedure itself?
