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#thread on role of dental care pre-surgery. @medevidenceblog posted this. As a dentist who did a hospital based residency in the US, I have been saying this for a while! It is forgotten that attached to every persons body is an oral cavity aka mouth. #dentalcare #presurgery
Inside the mouth are teeth and gingiva(gums). Both potential sources for severe infections often asymptomatic for a long time. I used to be amazed during my private practice of 10 years in the US to see patients come in with severe gum infections #dentalcare #presurgery
And carious broken teeth with periapical pathology. I feel there is a huge area for improvement in this aspect of pre-surgical screening. For starters this needs to be made part of the PAT. A panoramic xray like this and a check up by a dentist,preferably #dentalcare #presurgery
An oral surgeon should be done well ahead of time. In most cases extraction is the only option. It is surely the most definitive solution. People lose their sleep over pre-medication for dental treatment for endocarditis or joint replacement infection. #dentalcare #presurgery
Ever wonder how many surgeries were compromised by something as simple as an infected tooth? At the residency we replaced so many teeth for free because the laryngoscope knocked out a super loose tooth. I will share two Panoramic images #dentalcare #presurgery
This patient came in because some food was getting stuck in his teeth All the areas circled are potential sources of infection and need attention. Plus he has bone loss and needs a thorough deep scaling and root planning to eliminate bacteria #dentalcare #presurgery 
This patient developed “mild swelling” in his lower jaw on the left. He saw an oral surgeon and was diagnosed with a huge pathological lesion. Luckily for him it was not malignancy. They were able to shrink it and then excise it. #dentalcare #presurgery
Otherwise he would have lost half his jaw. He is unfortunately numb in his lip and chin area. Perfectly healthy and no signs and symptoms for years. Imagine taking this patient in and basically causing a green stick fracture during intubation. #dentalcare #presurgery
This change will only happen if then chief of surgery at the hospital/institute calls for it. Dentists and dental departments/residences cannot make it happen. So if you are a surgeon, bring this up at your next meeting. #dentalcare #presurgery
Ask each nurse and patient about dental clearance. Ask your senior residents and surgeons. Bring about a change. Open the patients mouth and take a look! Ask a dentist. Do the right thing! #dentalcare #presurgery
Help spread the word. If you are a doctor, please share this. If you know a surgeon tag him/her. If you are a nurse, you have the most widespread influence to share this! If you are a patient, ask your surgeon or nurse about this! #dentalcare #presurgery
