Telling your dentist?

I was told by my dr to inform my dentist. When I told the dentist he said it's good they know just in case you have a hypo in the chair.

When I sregistered with my dentist earlier this year, I was asked about my medical history including diabetes and any medication I was taking in general.

I told my dentist I had diabetes as I saw here somewhere that you should tell them, and he seemed not the slightest bit interested - he just asked if I injected (and I said no). I did hear that diabetes can be responsible for gum problems.

I can't fault my dentist and yes he has my medical history on the screen as I go to sit in the chair.

daisy1 said:

I told my dentist I had diabetes as I saw here somewhere that you should tell them, and he seemed not the slightest bit interested - he just asked if I injected (and I said no). I did hear that diabetes can be responsible for gum problems.

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I'm surprised at your Dentist's response........surely he should need to know what medication you are taking, what ailments you have ? If only to make sure he doesn't give you something contra-indicated with a drug you are taking ! Maybe he knows you well enough and doesn't need to know any more........a bit odd though. :?

Thanks for the warning. If I should need an anaesthetic then I will make sure I tell him what meds I am taking at that time (if I had told him now it might have changed anyway by next time) - a whole list of them :shock: We also never see the same dentist twice as they come and go.

That's good Daisy. When my Son sees his regular Dentist he has to fill in a 2 page A4 form before he gets any treatment and that guy has known him since he was 6 yrs old ! Son is 28 yrs now BTW.

I have to update my dentist on which drugs I take everytime I go. Anything new is added to a form and anything I no longer take is noted and then I have to sign it. This time when I added Byetta to my list he looked it up before treating me and was very interested in how it was working for me. Both he and the hygenist who once I was dagnosed with diabetes wanted to see me every 3 months are always extra attentive and they tell me it is really important to keep my gums in the best possible condition. He was explaining to me about a conference they had recently attended about dental care for diabetics and they were told that gum inflamaton will make it harder for diabetics to control their blood sugar. Anyway the good news was that my gums are in fairly good nick and since using Byetta my mouth is not so dry which of course is much better for my gums.

Its one thing to tell your Dentist that you are diabetic, but has anyone asked their dentist if they have a formal protocol in place for diabetics and if it is up to date, if something should go wrong while you are undergoing treatment?

My dentist, hygenist and orthodontist are all aware that I am diabetic. Apparently it makes us more surceptable to plaque and/or gum disease and therefore regular trips are very important

I have told my dentist and he has a list of all my medication. Apparently some dental treatments, such as implant posts don't work on diabetics. Probably due to poor healing with raised blood glucose.[ according to my findings, the majority of diabetics have raised blood glucose most of the time. That means above 5}
He needs to know qabout medication, because of possible interactions.
He approves of my lowered carb diet andd says it shows in my good oral health.
hana

I have had 4 very successful dental implants. No problems with them at all and they have been in place for a few years now. The specialist surgeon who operated was well aware of my diabetes and the whole proceedure was great, no pain, no bruising, no infections and I healed quickly.

my dentist asks everytime you attend if medication has changed, i know that when i have had the local done in the past they used a different one due to some meds im on ,they definately need to know what meds u are on incase of giving u something that doesnt mix well

I had a problem with an extraction the dentist gave some many injections I had a hypo. Found out afterthe event it was the adrenilin in the Novacane that caused it. I am now given injections that do not contain the adrenilin and have no problems

Jane
I don't need implants as of now, having 30 of my own teeth, but My dentist did warn me. Maybe I should put him in touch with your specialist.
Hana

Lucky you with all your teeth. I really dreaded losing any and always said I would have implants if I did. They are brilliant although very expensive. I have read before about possible problems for diabetics but my general dentist referred me to a specialist and this is very important. Anyone considering it should go to someone who just does this kind of surgery and is very experienced. I used a team of 2, one does the surgery and the other does the fitting of the crowns. It took almost a year all told and they were very careful. There were several planning appointments and several check ups as treatment progressed. After the surgery I had a short course of steriods and antibiotics to prevent infection.The gums had stitches and they healed so fast I was eating fairly normally the next day. I've been through this twice now. 2 implants for 3 top teeth and then a couple of years later 2 more for some lower teeth. I hope I can hang onto the rest of my teeth now. However as scarey as it sounds with them drilling into your bones, it was so easy and not at all painful.

Im surprised at the reaction on one of the dentist when told about his patients diabetic status.

I have a collegue who's mother -as a result of an undiagnosed and untreated hypo in the dentist chair while she was in for routine work, slipped into a coma on return to her home and died shortly after!!

To me it seems highly important that your dentist is fully aware of his patients health and welfare while in their care.

Is it not afterall his responsibility!!?? :shock:

My collegue is still so angry that he lost his mother due to this negligence. His poor mother was only young when she passed away and left him and the rest of the siblings to be cared for by their father.
This was some years ago but in this day and age i would have thought that views and policies would be totally differant and procedures in place to ensure that no one else suffers and grave losses in life do not continue!

Well mine haven't. The tooth and the root are removed and the area allowed to heal for a couple of months. Then the bone is then exposed and a titanium implant is inserted into a hole drilled into the bone and then that is allowed to heal for about 3 months and very cleverly the bone just kind of grows around it. You end up with a few stiches after the surgery but mine healed very fast and the stitches were removed about a week later. Some of them came out on their own before that.About 3 months later the crowns are fixed onto the implants and kind of sit on a post that sticks up through the gum. They don't actually put the sticking up bit in until they are ready to fit the crowns.Once the crown is on though you don't see any of that. There isn't really anyway it's going to receed because the crown sits snuggly on top of the gum but on the post. You do have to look after them carefully and cleaning in between them is essential. I have the little brushes and use floss. You don't usually get an implant per tooth I have 2 implants for 3 teeth and then you have to use the brushes and floss to get under the teeth and clean around the posts. I have had two of mine for about 4 years and the others just over a year and so far they have been perfect.