Heart Disease News:

Severe Heart Disease Patients Should Have Dental Work in Mornings

Patients with severe heart disease whose blood pressure does not adapt well to stress may want to become morning persons when it comes to having dental work done.

As reported in the April issue of the Journal of the American Dental Association, Italian researchers have found that such patients are at high risk of experiencing heart failure during dental procedures.

Besides suggesting shorter dental appointments earlier in the day to reduce stress and possibly the risk of a heart attack, University of Bologna researchers said dentists should use anxiety-reducing techniques and complete pain control methods with these patients.

"Even minimal increases in heart rate and blood pressure could result in undesirable and potentially complicated demands on (these patients') hearts," says the study's lead researcher Dr. Lucio Montebugnoli. He cautioned patients to have comprehensive cardiovascular assessments and to make their dentists aware of those findings.

In the study, 80 patients were divided into four groups: those with minimal heart disease, severe heart disease, heart transplants and a control group with normal heart function. All participants had their blood pressure monitored at rest, after anesthesia was given and during a tooth extraction.

Patients with minimal heart disease fared the same as the control group -- their cardiac performance was good enough to permit them to undergo even highly stressful situations, such as tooth extraction, without circulatory impairment. Transplant patients also dealt well with the stress, though the researchers cautioned that these patients require individualized assessment for cardiovascular and other health risks.

Source: Heart Disease Week of April 21, 2002