Need For Antibiotics to Support Dental Procedures

American Heart Association has recently announced that antibiotic treatment is no longer required for the prevention of infective endocarditis which prevails in certain dental patients. With this announcement, many people tend to think whether antibiotics are required before other dental procedures.

Well, the answer of this questions is ‘yes’.

American Dental Association and American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons suggest patients to get antibiotic treatment before any dental procedure which could be required any time during two years following a total joint replacement treatment. Patients with compromised immune systems or the ones with certain health conditions are also required to get antibiotic treatment before certain dental treatments.

Patients with artificial heart valves, previous history of history of endocarditis, congenital heart conditions, and transplanted heart are also required to get antibiotic treatment before certain dental procedures, as suggested by AHA and ADA. A patient with any problem with the heart valve is also going to require antibiotic treatment prior to certain types of dental treatments.

You may not require any antibiotic treatment before the dental treatment if you have one or some of the following conditions:

• mitral valve prolapse
• rheumatic heart disease
• bicuspid valve disease
• calcified aortic stenosis
• certain congenital heart conditions

There are certain dental treatments on which the updated guidelines can be applied. Those dental treatments mainly include teeth cleaning and tooth extraction. The updated dental health guidelines mainly suggest taking care of the dental health in such a way that invasive and non-invasive dental treatments could be avoided. Moreover, the guidelines also suggest sticking to preventive dental care in such a way that the need for antibiotic treatment before dental treatments could be eliminated.

The updated guidelines are based on comprehensive studies which tell that infective endocarditis can occur if bacteria enter the bloodstream. Having that said, it is quite important to make sure that you are taking care of your oral health and hygiene because poor oral hygiene can eventually lead to the gum disease. And then bacteria find their way to the bloodstream.

Practices best oral hygiene on daily basis is important. Make sure that you are brushing and flossing your teeth on daily basis. Moreover, you are going to have to make sure that you are visiting your dentist regularly.

How to Deal With the Dry Mouth at Night

You may be familiar with the situation when you had to get up during the night with a dry mouth. The reasons for dry mouth can range from being as simple as keeping the mouth open to the more complex one such as side effect of a medication or simply a byproduct of any health condition. Either way, mouth dryness is quite uncomfortable.

Signs and symptoms of dry mouth

You get the dry mouth when your salivary glands do not product enough saliva to keep your mouth moist. Saliva is very important as it washes away the food debris and re-mineralizes the tooth enamel. If you do not have enough saliva in your mouth, you may be at the risk of getting your teeth decayed.

Apart from the fact that lack of saliva can cause cavities, it can also cause discomfort in your mouth. There are a few signs that you can look at in order to know that you have the problem of having mouth dryness in the night.

• Bad breath
• Sore and dry throat
• Sticky saliva (which usually causes sticky feeling in the mouth)
• Cracked lips
• Sores in the mouth
• An unpleasant change of taste

What causes mouth dryness or xerostomia?

You don’t need to worry if you get mouth dryness occasionally. It can be simply due to dehydration. However, the consistency of this problem can suggest that you have an issue to resolve. Studies suggest that the major reason for consistent dry mouth may be the medication you are on. Muscle relaxants and anti-depressants are the typical medications which can result in dryness of mouth.

Moreover, there are some health conditions which can result in mouth dryness. Diabetes and the autoimmune disorder Sjogren's syndrome are the most common reasons for xerostomia. Cancer and its treatment can also turn out to be the disturbing reasons for dry mouth.

Bad oral habits such as tobacco and alcohol consumption can also result in the dryness of mouth. These bad oral habits can result in the damage to salivary glands, leading to the reduced production of saliva.

How to prevent mouth dryness

If your problem of mouth dryness is due to dehydration, you can get it covered by drinking a plenty of water throughout the day and before going to bed. This problem can also result by medications. In such situation, you will have to make sure that you do something to stimulate the production of saliva. Chewing sugar-free gum and using a bedroom humidifier can help in this regard.

You also need to get treatment for the root cause of the mouth dryness. If it’s the medication that’s causing mouth dryness, you can visit your dentist to discuss about those medications. If it’s a health condition which is causing xerostomia, you will need to get that condition treated.