A graduate of Texas A&M University and the University of Texas Health Science Center, Dr. Stuart Rimes, D.D.S., is a board certified prosthodontist in Sugar Land, Texas. In this article, he explains why it is so important that patients are honest about their medical history with their dentists.
It is important that patients tell their dentists the full story about their overall health as otherwise we have no way of knowing the history behind their teeth.
The medications you are currently taking are important, of course. But another thing that people often don’t realize is that they need to tell their dentist — or prosthodontist, in this case — their full dental history. If we don’t know that going into it, then we have an increased chance of repeating mistakes that may have already been tried in the past. For instance, if a patient does not tell me that he has already had a certain procedure done and that the procedure didn’t work, what we do not want to do is to go down the same treatment path that a patient was already unsuccessful with in the past because that’s just wasting everyone’s time and money.
Another reason it is important to be open and share your health history with your dentist is that we’ll hopefully avoid prescribing something that won’t work. So, for example, something that we would be hoping to avoid would be prescribing a medication that will counter effect one or more medications that a patient is already on. We have no way of judging the side effects or reaction of a certain medication unless we know all the other medications the patient is currently taking.
Another reason it is important to tell your dentist what medications you are on is because some may cause oral issues that can become problematic. For example, maybe you are already taking a prescribed medication which has dry mouth as its side effect. And let’s say you forget to tell this information to your dentist. Well, if you have a cavity and your dentist puts in fillings, then dryness in the mouth can have a harmful effect. So after the dentist puts in the fillings, they could suddenly go bad because of your dry mouth. But, if you would have just told your dentist beforehand about the medication, then he would have avoided putting in the fillings until you were finished taking the medication.
Just for the different medical reasons that could pop up, it is best to be honest with your physician and it is also best to be honest with your dentist.
With all that said, though, I should mention that most people I treat are honest and open about their medical history, and most people do not try to hide anything when it comes to the medications they are on or what procedures that have had done in the past. Or, at the very least, I guess I haven’t caught anyone in a lie just yet.
The information in the article is not intended to substitute for the medical expertise and advice of your healthcare provider. We encourage you to discuss any decisions about treatment or care with an appropriate healthcare provider.
