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Dentistry and the medically compromised patient

Lookup NU author(s): Emeritus Professor Robin Seymour

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Abstract

Certain medical conditions and their accompanying drug treatment do have an impact upon oral structures and the delivery of dental care. Recent evidence suggests that oral health could be a significant risk factor for coronary artery disease. Many medical conditions can affect dental care are often over-stated and lack an evidence base. Examples include the need for antibiotic cover in patients at risk from infective endocarditis and the necessity to provide supplementary corticosteroids for those patients on long-term steroid therapy. By contrast, certain systematic drug treatments can have a profound affect on the oral tissue. The most obvious is drug-induced gingival overgrowth. Drugs frequently implicated in this unwanted effect include phenytoin, ciclosporin and the calcium channel blockers. Several risk factors for drug-induced overgrowth have been identified and include age, sex, peridontal variables and a range of drugpharmacokinetic variables. The relationship between oral health and coronary artery disease opens up a potentially new vista for the delivery of oral care. Although the association is convincing, casualty has not been established. If casualty for this relationship can be confirmed then the delivery of dental care and the promotion of oral health will receive a significant impetus.


Publication metadata

Author(s): Seymour RA

Publication type: Article

Publication status: Published

Journal: Surgeon Journal of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh and Ireland

Year: 2003

Volume: 1

Issue: 4

Pages: 207-214

ISSN (print): 0035-8835

ISSN (electronic):

Publisher: Edinburgh University Press

URL: . .


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