[General medical concepts for the dental treatment of aging patients]

Patients, particularly older ones, with internal medical diseases, may be hazards for the dental treatment. Therefore, anamnestic data seem to be most important in order to uncover the hazard patient (diabetes, survived heart attacks, anticoagulation, rheumatic heart affections, hypertonics, allergies). Local anesthesia can be another problem, because it may lead to collapse (psychogenous or from anaphylactic shock). Focal infection, although in general overrated in its importance for the general organism, may pose some problems before heart surgery and antibiotic therapy previously may seem necessary. Finally, therapeutic consequences from emergencies in the dental office are reviewed.