Dental Treatment Effect on Deep Brain Stimulation System in Parkinson's Disease

Parkinson's disease (PD) is a highly prevalent, long-term neurodegenerative disorder that is sometimes treated by deep brain stimulation (DBS), which significantly reduces the need for dopaminergic drug therapy and improves quality of life. Such patients are cautioned, however, that dental instruments such as a dental turbine or ultrasonic scaler may adversely affect the functioning of such a system. Here, we report dental treatment for right maxillary tooth pain in a 65-year-old woman undergoing DBS for PD. The diagnosis was occlusal trauma. After verification with occluding paper each time, treatment comprised milling of the high contact points of tooth #17, followed by scaling with an ultrasonic scaler. This treatment was spread out over 3 visits, and its course was uneventful. To our knowledge, there are no previous reports on the interaction between dental instruments and DBS systems. Although no interference with the DBS system was observed here, we believe that the dentist should be aware of the potential for such, especially with the use of devices used to measure root canal length, dental lasers, and electrical scalpels.