Charity’s victory in heart dental health ruling

The victory comes after research, funded by the charity and healthcare provider Simplyhealth, showed that there had been an increase in cases of the life threatening heart condition infective endocarditis since national health body NICE recommended in 2008 that at risk heart patients no longer receive antibiotic cover during dental treatment.

Following research conducted by Professor Martin Thornhill of the University of Sheffield’s School of Clinical Dentistry, NICE (National Institute for Health and Care Excellence) decided not to change its recommendation despite dentists in the USA and Europe routinely giving antibiotic cover to high risk heart patients – which includes those with artificial or repaired heart valves.

Now, after pressure from the charity, Professor Thornhill and colleagues, patients and a local MP, NICE has had a change of heart and altered the guideline. Before the change, the NICE guidelines stated that giving antibiotic cover to heart patients undergoing dental treatment was not recommended. That recommendation has now been changed to say that dentists should not “routinely” give antibiotics to patients at risk of infective endocarditis during dental procedures. The new ruling allows flexibility so that dentists and cardiologists can recommend antibiotic cover when it is in the best interests of the patient.