Dentist

[Lopsided]

You guys are freaking me out.

Don't get freaked out. Merely take antibiotics before you see a dentist.

How does bacteria mess with chromoly?

The bacteria is very sticky and likes hard surfaces with little blood supply, like the enamel on your teeth.

Does chromoly somehow lower your body's immune system?

No.

[Tin Soldier]

I get it.  That's sounds like a perfectly reasonable answer.  Thanks.  But is it only the dentist?  What happens if I chew up my knuckles while messing with firewood?  or I cut myself in the kitchen, or any other event where I break the skin?  Like I said earlier, I hardly ever get infections, and that goes for regular colds too. I assume that will all be the same after new hips, right?

right, just follow the rule, take your antibiotics before seeing the dentist.  Cool, I can do that.

Thanks

[moe]

Just use common sense, someone on here had a cut on the foot that got infected, didn't catch it in time and lost her resurf. The bacteria can travel and get under the metal, once that happens it can be difficult (but not impossible) to treat.

moe

[Dayton96]

I'm getting ready for a March 23 resurfacing.  I knew, from other surface hippies, to get any dental work done before my HR.  I was told by my surgeon to get it all done at least six weeks before the surgery.  I talked to my dentist today after a cleaning and exam and he said that in the future, they will "flag" my file, indicating a hip device.  That means the dentist will automatically prescribe an antibiotic for any dental work.  The dentist even knew enough to ask if my HR surgeon wanted it for just two years, or for life. 

Mac

[chris finn]

Blimey...now Im freaked out too. I cut myself on an almost daily basis when Im at work....and half the time I dont even notice. Plus...once Im feeling 100%.....I want to be able to live a normal life..not wrap myself in bubble wrap...this is crazy......what if I fall of a pushbike onto tarmac????.....or I go back to martial arts and get hit in the face??.....or I do any one of the million and one other things that normal people do????

My surgeon hasnt mention anything at all about antibiotics or infection...but now I think Im gonna give him a ring.

[gary2010]

let's not get carried away! I understood the risk was from bacteria entering the skeletal bone via the jawbone, hence the dental precaution.

My gums bleed sometimes and I often have broken skin on my hands, cuts in the mouth are common in contact sports, runners have blisters, cyclists fall off. There are thousands of sporting hippies out there doing fine. I don't propose to take antibiotics every five minutes, they don't agree with me anyway and often do more harm than good.

[andybc]

UK/USA opinion very divided on this issue.

As far as I know the UK official dental advice is no antibiotic cover, even for people with heart valve problems.

I think the dichotomy over whether to take or not take antibiotics reflects the relationship of benefit to the individual relative to the overall detriment to society in the production of antibiotic resistant strains.

No opinion ventured here, just a comment.

Andy

[gary2010]

I was also advised to use an antibiotic before dental work; not a major consideration as I have not been to a dentist since 1982. My teeth are fine, I have one filling from childhood and I do the periodic scraping procedure myself, I've been known to deburr chips with a diamond file.

I did a bit of reading today and it seems the infection route is not through the bone but the synovial fluid, via the bloodstream. The problem with antibiotics for general use, apart from the resistance you  mention, is that the only way to protect against a specific organism is to make a culture first and find out what it is, otherwise you take a broad spectrum drug which will wipe out most of the body's flora and might still not provide protection against your infection.

Hip infections, though serious, seem to be pretty rare considering the number of procedures performed every year. I suspect it mostly occurs in a compromised immune system.

The bone cement contains 2 antibiotics, I've not been able to find out how long the protection lasts.
http://www.medsafe.govt.nz/profs/datasheet/Simplexcement.htm

[littleb]

I think some of us are getting a little carried away. In the US, people who have hip replacements, heart valves and murmers, and those with shunts are advised to have a short corse of antibiotics prior to any dental work since the mouth does carry a lot of germs that if introduced to the blood stream can lead to infection in the artificial joint, valve or shunt (murmers can be caused by faulty valves allowing bacteria to get stuck in the heart and cause infection to breed there). I have a resurf, I have one child with a shunt and another with a murmer. The odds are very low but if you are in the 1-2%, it's a very big deal. Who knows who is in that small persentage, but personally I'm not taking the risk when it's just a low level of antibiotics.

My daughter had a shunt placed in infancy and my son has always had the murmer - he never out grew it. Kids are much more rough and tumble on their bodies. Simple soap and water with a bandaid, sometimes peroxide or neosporin if there was alot of dirt in the skin break and we were good. Watch if the cut or scrape starts to look infected. Just normal everyday precausions.My daughter is now 31 and only one shunt infection from an ear infection, it was a very frightening month in the hospital but all worked out fine. My son is 25 and nothing out of the ordinary. They weren't psychologically scarred by needing to take the extra care. My daughter knows she need a quick course of antibiotics each time she adds to her tatoos. They haven't had any issue of needing stronger antibiotics when they get things like strep etc.

I'm hoping I haven't offended anyone. I just wanted folks to know that it's not hard to be cautious and peace of mind has a lot of value.

[chris finn]

Never thought about tattoos...Ive got a few and want many more....so its more antibiotics for that too I take it  :o :o :o

[littleb]

Yup. We took extra care with earrings as well. Not antibiotics, just watched carefully. When she finally escaped Katrina the doctors put her on a full course of antibiotics just to be safe because the situation was out of the ordinary.