Taking care of things

[Raverlaw]

Well,

My surgeon said that the waiting period before surgery would be a good time to get any dental work done. I saw a dentist last week, and he recommended an extraction for one tooth where I had previously had a root canal.

I got my teeth cleaned today, (yes, I took my 2000 mg Amoxycillin first) and had a consult with the oral surgeon. The tooth will come out next Monday, leaving me in fine shape for the AVR next month.

The technician who cleaned my teeth has a husband who is on Coumadin, so we had a nice chat about it - he's been on it since a stroke in '91 and reports it doesn't really affect his life that much, which is comforting for me to hear.

The dentist said that being on Coumadin won't affect normal dental procedures, either, like root canals or fillings, but encouraged me to get the extraction done before the AVR, since the gums around that tooth are a bit dicey and there's no point in TRYING to get a bacterial infection pre-surgery, is there?

 

[Bryan B]

Bill,

My surgeon suggested the same thing and I had my teeth cleaned today too (and I took my 2gm Amoxicillin 1hr prior to appointment). Good for us, we are listening to our docs!

My prognosis is 2 crowns and 2-3 old fillings replaced. I'm glad I didn't put this off as this will require 3-4 appointments. I'm in the process of finding a cardio and surgeon at Duke and getting a date set. I live in TN and my cardio and CV surgeon both recommend surgery this past Tuesday. After giving it a few days thought I have decided to have the surgery done close to my family at Duke (I hope this can happen anyway). I think you're gonna beat me to the other side of the mountain by a week or two. Good luck to you, and I'll see you in the waiting room for the next few weeks.

 

[fisher6476]

Good Job

Good Job

Bryan and Raverlaw.
Keep up the good work getting ready. I too got my dental work done prior to my surgery. In fact my surgeon told me he would not proceed without dental clearance as he felt that usings his skills to do the surgery and putting me through the surgery just to have the valve spoiled by a possible infection would be a "tragedy" as he put it. I just makes sense not to add any risk!
Steve

 

[Ross]

Same here. My mouth continues to disintegrate to this day however.

 

[Harpoon]

The intubation can carry bacteria and what not from your mouth down into your lungs or near your heart which can cause some real problems post-op.

I had to get clearances from my dentist before they would proceed with the surgery. I had a tooth removed about a month beforehand and a thorough cleaning about a week prior to going to Cleveland.

I've always had the amoxicillin thing (in various forms) over the years so that's nothing new. My gums bleed a little more than they used to after having a cleaning or other dental work now, but I think that's just the coumadin and it clears up within an hour or so. Just a minor inconvienence...

 

[Marge]

Lucky me. I am the marvel of the dentistry world, apparently, never having had a single filling in my life. The only dental surgery I've ever had to have was wisdom teeth extractions. However, just to cover all bases, I advanced my regular cleaning & had it done last week, so I will not have to think about my teeth for a while. We have a new dentist, and she was in amazement at the state of my teeth (at age 66!). I do not know to what I should attribute this to.

My new dentist did say that, in view of the upcoming surgery, I should be especially careful and consistent in flossing and using a Water-Pik in the next few weeks to avoid bacteria in the mouth that could cause problems post-op.

But what is this about "dental clearance"? My surgeon's office has set Feb. 12 for the surgery, & nobody has mentioned to me so far that I need "dental clearance." Is this a specific form that dentists are supposed to fill out?

 

[Georgia]

I was confused about this too last year - after I got on the forum and having had surgery etc., no one had inquired about the state of my teeth (that I remembered, anyway). At that time someone else had surgery postponed due to required dental work.

And NO FILLINGS???

Did you grow up in Colorado Springs, or do you just have really good genes?

 

[Marge]

I guess it's genes. My mom had really good teeth too, although she had some fillings.

In my present state (just-below-the-conscious-level-panic) it does bother me a bit that nobody said anything about dental work. (I just knew about it from my reading, and went ahead and scheduled the cleaning.) I find myself wondering: What ELSE did they forget about mentioning & that might come up at the surgical consult on the 6th? ? Or show up on the pre-op tests on the 10th, and cause the Feb. 12 surgery date to be put over?

 

[Harpoon]

All my surgeons wanted was a note from the dentist saying my mouth was free of cavities and infections and I was good to go for surgery.

In fact, I never even provided the actual note to my doctors in Cleveland where I had the surgery. They asked about it over the phone before I went out and again the day before surgery and I said my dentist said everything was Ok.

They just want to make sure you don't have any cavities or gingivitus or whatever lurking around in your mouth which could spread down into your lungs if you had a tube down your throat for a while...

Go in about a month or so before surgery (allowing yourself enough time to heal if there is something that's gotta get fixed up before surgery) and have the dentist look you over, that's about it. Then he or she writes something up saying you're mouth is clear of infection.

 

[catwoman]

Marge:

You must be related to my husband. John has never had a filling/cavity/tooth extraction -- and he'll be 58 in March. Add to that, never had an overdue library book or traffic ticket of any kind, moving or parking.

I was not told to have a dental checkup pre-op. Had to wait until 3MO post-op to have a checkup. Had been 4 or 5 years since my last one. I had had to cancel my last appt, never called back and my dentist's office never called to make an appt.
Very very lucky. Only had to have my teeth cleaned. X-rays were fine. Have never really had dental problems, other than usual teen-age fillings (1 of which went bad and I needed a crown about 15-20 years ago) and jawline reduction surgery at age 17.

My dentist has set me up for cleanings every 3-4 months because of the St Jude valve. Dental insurance covers 2 visits a year.