Prophylaxis of infective endocarditis for dental procedures. Report of a working party of the European Society of Cardiology.

Bacterial endocarditis still remains a serious disease with significant morbidity and mortality. In patients with known valve disease, most cases are caused by oral viridans streptococci. These organisms are present in vast numbers on the gum margins and in gum pockets. They cause transient bacteraemia during eating and tooth brushing. More substantial, but short-lived bacteraemia can occur during dental treatment such as extraction and scaling. Bacteria may then become attached to abnormal endocardium leading to the development of infective endocarditis. Prophylaxis of endocarditis during dental procedures in patients with known valve disease should thus be aimed at reducing the number of bacteria entering the blood stream and eliminating those that get there. This can be sought first by good oro-dental hygiene and secondly by the use of prophylactic antibiotics. In this paper, we set out simple guidelines for practitioners in those countries that do not already have recommendations of their own. They are based on guidelines already in use in the United Kingdom, France, Switzerland and the United States.