Why Does Dental Health Influence Surgical Treatment?

If you need surgery, it’s often quite normal for your surgeon to request dental clearance as your dental health can greatly affect your general health. When you have good dental health, it reduces the number of bacteria in your blood, improving blood chemistry so your body can more easily heal and fight infection. If you have poor dental health, there is a greater chance that bacteria could affect your surgery, and you may find it harder to heal and to fight infection.

Why Would I Need Dental Clearance?

It is quite common to need dental clearance before heart surgery, cancer treatments, treatment for osteoporosis, or before joint replacement surgery. It is especially important for patients requiring heart valve replacement and where anticoagulants are frequently prescribed to help prevent blood clots. Because these anticoagulants increase the risk of bleeding excessively during other surgical treatments, it’s essential to make sure you have good dental health before surgery and that you won’t need any subsequent treatment in the six months following surgery.

Here at New Age Dental, we often work with medical professionals. We can provide dental clearance, confirming you have had a dental examination within the last six months and that you do not have any signs of dental infection or are likely to require any urgent dental care within the next six months.