[Dental care and prevention of infectious endocarditis]

Infective endocarditis causes substantial morbidity and mortality despite adequate antimicrobial, medical and surgical treatment. The rationale for antibiotic prophylaxis against endocarditis is derived from the etiology and pathogenesis of the disease. Endocarditis usually follows bacteremia with certain endocarditis-prone bacteria in a patient with a predisposing heart condition. Protection by antibiotic prophylaxis is estimated to reach only 50% for a lot of reasons (transient bacteremia without dental or surgical intervention, predisposing heart disease not diagnosed previously, etc). Most authorities in the field of infective endocarditis strongly advocate the use of antibiotic prophylaxis for patients at risk. Clear guidelines are published by various highly qualified scientific committees. Recent schemes allow orally administered antibiotic prophylaxis because of a better doctor and patient compliance.