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  • antibiotics before dentist

    Hi
    I'm 11 months post op and doing great! However I'm told I need to take antibiotics before dental cleanings from now on. Why is this???
    Thanks!
    Jenn
    37 y/o female
    60 degree lumbar
    45 degree thoracic
    1st time anterior/posterior surgery May 8th and 10th 2006
    T 5 to S 1
    NYC

  • #2
    No pre med for scoliosis surgery.

    Hi Jenn,

    Go to "surgery booked for June 18th". (Page 5) We were answering Nadias question about pre med before dental. Some Dr's. will have you do it and I don't know why. If you have no other health issues this surgery does not need pre med. There is a site you can go to to double check your health issues. (I listed it in that thread.) If you never did pre med before, your Dr. is possibly not up to date on new pre med recommendations. Some people get upset stomachs from pre meds so you wouldn't want to be taking it for no reason. My Surgeon and Dentist (My former boss.) said no way was this necessary when I double and triple checked before answering Nadia. (I worked in the dental field for years but wanted to make sure nothing had changed.)

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    • #3
      I had this same question when my surgeon told me that I would always need to take antibiotics before going to the dentist. This is what I found:

      According to the book Scoliosis Surgery: The Definitive Patient's Reference by David Wolpery, a dentist may require you to take a short course of antibiotics before and after your visit to minimize the risk of infection because even a routine cleaning can release quite a bit of bacteria into your body.
      Apparently, this bacteria may be attracted to the metal rods and cause an infection in that area.

      I'm actually scheduled to have my teeth cleaned 2 days before my surgery, so I was wondering if there would be a problem with that. What do you guys think?
      Nadia
      I'm 19
      Diagnosed with Scoliosis at age 16
      Curves as of June 2006: 48T & 40L
      Curves as of June 2007: 52T & 43L
      Surgery date: June 18, 2007
      "A smile is a curve that can straighten out anything"

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      • #4
        Any dental work can be done before your surgery, was my understanding. I had crown work done before and now need to go back & was given an antibiotic prescription to be taken prior to my dental appmt. Ly

        9 mos post-op/ fused T-11 to L-5

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        • #5
          If you have anything artificial in your body you always have to pre-medicate before having dental work. My dentist explained it to me like this- during a cleaning, what they're doing losens up a lot of bacteria that is in your mouth. This bacteria travels through your bloodstream, and if there is anything artificial in your body, it will go straight to that and could cause an infection.
          I think you're supposed to take a high dose of antibiotics (that's what I have to do)..
          Not to worry, this is normal!

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          • #6
            Hi Summer,

            Here's my two cents worth. Before my daughter's surgery I asked her surgeon if she would need to be pre-medicated for dental appts. etc. He looked surprised that I would even know to ask that question. The reason I knew to ask is that my mom has artificial knee joints and she needs to be pre-medicated. My daughter's surgeon says he pre-medicates for one year post-op as a precaution. The way he explained it to me was this: the knee joints tend to be a "weaker" site and infection tends to head towards the weakest site and you really don't want an infection there. With the back, it is surrounded by its own protective fluid which protects it from infection.

            Like everything else, every doctor is different and some need to be pre-medicated and others don't. If anyone's doctor suggests they be pre-medicated for only a year, be sure to ask the doctor for a note telling the dentist that you no longer need pre-medicated or they may not treat you without being pre-medicated. This happened to my daughter and it was a mad scramble to get a note faxed to the dentist so we wouldn't have to reschedule her appointment.

            Mary Lou
            Mom to Jamie age 21-diagnosed at age 12-spinal fusion 12/7/2004-fused from T3-L2; and Tracy age 19, mild Scoliosis-diagnosed at age 18.

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            • #7
              My surgeon recommended antibiotics one hour before certain procedures permanently. They said especially since I had a very extensive revision. Maybe it's different with less invasive procedures. I certainly would not take it upon myself to decide I wasn't going to do it. The risks are too high.

              Specific recommendations were; "any surgery/procedure where bleeding can occur"--even colonoscopies because, if a polyp is found then slight bleeding can occur.
              Original scoliosis surgery 1956 T-4 to L-2 ~100 degree thoracic (triple)curves at age 14. NO hardware-lost correction.
              Anterior/posterior revision T-4 to Sacrum in 2002, age 60, by Dr. Boachie-Adjei @Hospital for Special Surgery, NY = 50% correction

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