Every year, more than 28,000 transplantation procedures are performed in the United States to replace solid organs, including the heart, intestine, kidney, liver, lung, and pancreas. Patients with conditions including end-stage renal disease, severe diabetes, advanced heart disease, and liver disease may undergo transplant procedures. Because advances in medical techniques and drug therapy have extended lives of organ transplant recipients, you may treat some of these patients in your practice.
Organ transplant patients need specialized dental care. The compromised health and immune system of patients place them at increased risk for systemic as well as oral infections. This fact must be considered when planning dental treatment before and after transplantation and requires consultation with your patient’s physician.
