In Dentists

Routine dental procedure may cause heart infection

Patients who undergo dental implant procedures may develop endocarditis, a heart infection caused by bacteria entering the bloodstream, according to local CBS affiliate WUSA9.

Woodbridge, Va., patient Matt Brock is among the 200,000 patients who develop endocarditis annually. When Mr. Brock visited his dentist to have a dental crown implanted, he told the station he was unfazed, having undergone plenty of dental procedures in the past.

But the routine dental procedure did not go as planned, and Mr. Brock spent two years in and out of hospitals trying to determine the source of his symptoms.

It was when he contacted cardiac surgeon Ammar Bafi, MD, at MedStar Washington Hospital in Washington, D.C., that he learned his dental procedure was linked to his heart infection, according to the news station.

Wisdom teeth removal and simple skin injuries also can cause endocarditis, Dr. Bafi said.

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