Heart failure: dental considerations

For the medical management of heart failure, see Heart failure.

Do not undertake dental treatment unless the patient’s heart failure is stable. Limit the duration of dental procedures. Patients with heart failure may not tolerate being placed in a horizontal position—position the dental chair so the head is higher than the heart, at a similar angle to how the patient can comfortably sleep.

Patients with severe heart failure are at increased risk of adverse outcomes from sedation and general anaesthesia. Dental procedures requiring sedation or general anaesthesia should be undertaken in a hospital with an anaesthetist present.

Avoid nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) in patients with heart failure (see here for further information).