Dental Issue

[Judles]

I don't get it!!! Why are you afraid to tell your dentist?? Jo an as usual, is RIGHT!!! He/She SHOULD know! He wouldn't be negligent in your care....if something would happen, it would be YOUR unfortunate experience! You are LUCKY to have something thay can be FIXED! You should be shouting from the rooftops with happiness!!!!! There are so many patients that aren't in your position! Enough from me! My MOM instinct has been kicking in every time I read one of your posts! Oh well, good luck to you!

 

[ship4]

Query: Why don't you want others to know about your TKR?
Why do you not want the dentist to know and have your medical history as it is pertinent? (he surely does not want to be sued by you because you did not tell him you had TKR...)
Is it because you do not want anyone's pity?
Because you straight up do not want any help from anyone?
Because you feel you will appear weak?
Just wondering as others obviously are interested in you and your progress and would love to help you in any way they can.
This is a time in your life when you find out who your true friends really are as they step up to the plate and go out of their way to inquire about you because they would like to be helpful........

Everyone told me how amazing I was, and I bet they will tell you the same thing.

 

[Judles]

Well put, Crystal! Skigirl.....its one thingto be modest, its quite another to with hold medical information from your dentist! Btw, just realize that when you fly, if ever, you WILL be wanded and the like......that's just a reality for ALL of us in this post 9/11 world!!!

 

[Jamie]

Crystal, once again you are right on target with your comments. So many of us women are the strong ones in our lives and we are just conditioned that we MUST always be that way. Not so when you are trying to recover from knee surgery!

Skigirl, I think you will find that no one would feel pity for you with knee surgery. They have seen how you were before the operation and they will be in awe of you for taking such a major step. And when they see the new you once you get past the first few months of recovery, I guarantee they will be amazed. It's not like you're going to be able to hide the fact that you will have great mobility now.

I just don't understand how you can have friends and not allow them to be there for you....wouldn't you do the same for them in a bad period of their life? You are depriving them of the good feelings that come with helping someone you care about. And it's not like it's permanent....this is a temporary situation. Please try to allow yourself to be more open to others. It is not a weakness. It will only strengthen those relationships with the important people in your life.

 

[skigirl]

Crystal,

Yes of course I don't want pity from anyone. Last year when one of the ski instructors got a tka--everyone talked about her non stop--- was she grateful enough, did she exercise enough, did it affect her skiing, blah, blah, blah. I am not interested in being this year's topic of gossip.

Really, I am very private and independent---you had to be resourceful to grow up in my family. I am used to taking total care of myself. Even my husband feels that I have taken care of myself from day one. I don't really need any help now==bob told some of the people at church and they brought over dinners==which he ate, since I have no appetite!!! It was nice, but I felt bad they they went to all that trouble---I can barely eat anything right now.

So, this is my private medical information---why do other people need to know anything at all? You are probably right, I will tell the dentist==she will have to keep that informaiton private if I speak to her. But everything else is not for common knowledge. What difference does it make to anyone who knows about my knee?

As an athlete, I do feel weak that this has happened. But, I do not have to talk about it to anyone---when people come up to me and ask about my knee, I just say that I do not want to discuss it. Period. All people have boundaries--mine are just tighter than some others, but, really it does not matter at all. I did cancel the cleaning appt too, which will help.

 

[Texas]

Well whether you like it or not we are all in the same position. We will probably never meet so I sure hope you talk to us about everything and anything if you need help. That's what this forum is. We all do care and as you have your ways I have mine and just care.........I wouldnt have made it really with out talking to these people and my friends and family. I am independant but this surgery was a lil rough for me. They get it.....Alot of people dont. ...Anyway we cant see you or know you so take care of yourself and post any and all questions....Let us in a lil this is not an easy operation...........I sure hope you take this as it was intended... We all hope you feel well and get better.....

 

[Nancyo]

Skigirl,
While I do not understand your extream need for total privacy on your knee replacement, I do respect your right to feel that way. However; I hope that you consider the number of people who might need that information in the future for one reason or another. Saving your life might be one of them.
You are an unknown here, so it's great that you found us. Here we are all private, we ask questions because we are concerned about your health and well being, we are not asking questions to be able to talk about you. We do admire you for having the courage to have the replacement done. It is a difficult surgery.
We care that you are doing as well as possible at your stage of recovery. We are here for you in any circumstance. We have all been through the overly swelling stage, the too red and too hot stage, the flexion and extension stage, the pain behind the knee stage, the quad sparing it hurts too bad stage. The stages we go through are many and varied. We have different stages that I've forgotten to mention.
We care about each other and almost all of us know nothing much about the other guy. We care because we are mainly all in the same boat, we share these stages, and we don't want anybody's boat to sink. If one of us feels as tho we are drowning, another of us will throw out a life jacket.
Yes, we ask questions, but it's to help you with the stage your going through now. We are concerned that you are making it ok in your everyday world. We may seem a bit nosy, but we're nosy because we care.
We are all as different as people usually are in life. We are all as different as the stages we go through, and we are willing to go through them together. We do hope and pray that you will allow us to help you through each stage ....we understand. By the way, losing your appitite is a normal stage.
Blessings to you always and in every way~~
Nancyo

 

[JudyS]

Back to the dental. My doc said forever so I'm with Judles and others I will take the antibiotics forever before cleanings.
Skigirl I sure understand your being more of a private person. I am over here in Ca making up for it , I tell everyone about my new hip and my back surgery and my knee, even if they don't want to hear about it. Usually it is when I am out hiking, so I do get all the amazed looks and comments and then they go out and try harder!!!

That is what makes the world go around, all us different people.
judy:cool:

 

[Surfsister]

I completely understand where skigirl is coming from. Some folks are private. Period. I have friends like that. They don't want others knowing too much about them. They open up to a chosen few and that's it. I totally get it.

With that said, I'm like sewell44. I tell people about my TKR. Why? Truthfully, as an athlete, I think it makes me a bad %$!. These three long scars, two of which were from my second knee surgery at 17, are a way for me to advertise my toughness. People, especially other athletes, respect scars that scare them. The TKR scar is rather frightening. I'm using it to try and get the mental advantage over people who will see me again on a surfboard in a few months.

Yes, I'm that competitive.

 

[Brian]

Jo, sorry I don't know. I was sitting in the chair and he held it in front of me to read and I just recall seeing a mention of NICE but it could have been from one of the dental bodies. I got a definite negative at two hospital appointments when I asked about anti-biotics. That's why I would like to hear from other UK patients.

I found this on the Chester Knee Clinic website:
Dental Treatment After a Knee Replacement

The routine administration of prophylactic antibiotics for dental interventions to prevent haematogenous spread of infections to prosthetic joints is a contentious issue. There is a lack of robust evidence linking dental procedures to an increased risk of infection of prosthetic joints. Antibiotic prophylaxis has not been shown to effectively prevent dental-associated infections. Basically, there is no evidence to link prosthetic joint infections to dental procedures and none to prove that antibiotic prophylaxis is effective.

 

[Peta]

I'm obviously not from the UK Brian, but for what it's worth, here in Australia the standard precautions are to take pre-op antibiotics prior to invasive dental tx for 2 years following any joint replacements.
On a personal note, having been a dental nurse for more years than I care to mention, the dentists that I work with all feel it is "better to be safe than sorry".

 

[Max Wallace]

US

Take before dental work the rest of my natural life.

 

[stives]

Hi there. Having been away for ten days I'm now catching up a bit, although I don't seem to have as much time for being on the computer now - I am too well!!!

I seem to remember having this same query after my first TKR but before my second, and it is still not resolved. When I was originally told the only option to sort out my knees was two TKRs, I was given a little booklet written by the 'boss' consultant at the local hospital, and that definitely said we should take antibiotics before any dental treatment, including teeth cleaning, fof the rest of our lives.

After the first TKR I had an appointment to have my teeth cleaned. At my six week check with my consultant I was told that the advice had now changed, and it was up to the individual as to whether or not to take antibiotics, but to discuss it with the dentist. Before I went to the dentist I thought I'd see what my GP said. He is married to a dentist - he didn't know what the latest advice was but said he's ask his wife and get back to me. He phoned me later and said it was probably advisable for things like root canal treatment or an extraction, but teeth cleaning was a very 'grey' area. I then asked my dentist, who said his latest advice was that it wasn't necessary for teeth cleaning unless the OS said it was - i.e. only necessary for patients with particular problems.

I therefore went ahead and had my teeth cleaned without taking any antibiotics. I don't think much, if any, bleeding went on. Thankfully, as far as I am aware, I have had no ill effects, but it is a worry. I have now postponed my next teeth cleaning session, as I reckon the longer the time after the operation, the less risk there would be - although that might well not be true! I am one of those people who won't take anything unnatural if I can help it. I don't even like taking painkillers, although with my TKRs I have given in to that!

So, what is the best? The book that my GP showed me -possibly the latest NICE book that Brian and Jo have mentioned - contained information about all the latest advice for GPs etc. It certainly said that there was no evidence that antibiotics were needed for dental treatment, and therefore they would not advise taking them. Too many antibiotics are not a good idea.

I have a neighbour who had a TKR several years ago. She was never even advised to take antibiotics before any dental treatment, and was very surprised when I showed her my booket. She has never taken any before treatment.

I wish someone would sort this problem out for us all!!!

 

[Brian]

... I have a neighbour who had a TKR several years ago. She was never even advised to take antibiotics before any dental treatment, and was very surprised when I showed her my booket. She has never taken any before treatment.

I wish someone would sort this problem out for us all!!!

The only place I read about this before this forum was in the Knee Owner's Handbook. I have a friend who is a dentist but I have not seen him recently but will ask him when I do!

 

[stives]

Hey, yes Brian - please do! I really don't want to keep taking those pills! However, I also want to keep my own teeth, and I definitely don't want any infection in my bionic knees.

Off now to put yet more washing out. Got to make the most of today's nice weather to get ten days' worth of washing sorted. The weather coming home yesterday was ghastly in places - black skies, torrential rain. Lovely British summer! Rain coming tomorrow.

 

[Judles]

Yikes!!!!! Is this back to square one or what??? Well....that settles it for ME!!!! I'm STILL going to take antibiotics for the rest of my life! I'm VERY attached to my hip and I want to keep it THAT way!!! Mentally, if a couple of pills make ME feel better, then I will be VERY happy to take them!!! If I don't need them....SO WHAT in my book!! I'm playing it SAFE!!!!

 

[calling_all_angels]

Just a few pills to take is not really such a hard thing to live with, and if it helps ease our minds about encountering a infection why are we worrying so about it???

 

[Judles]

For sure, Calling!!!!It's just NOT worth ANY risk!!!!

 

[skigirl]

Today, on the way to the dentist, I brushed my teeth and when I spit out the water, there was blood in it. I thought that if bleeding was the criterion for antibiotics, then I would have to take them for some of my own brushing. My husband got diarreah (sp!) from the bolus and decided not to take it anymore (he has a defibrillator). He has no bad effects. I just feel confused--there does not seem to be any real evidence that antibiotics are necessary. Kelly

 

[stives]

Kelly, I do so agree with you. I sometimes brush my teeth so hard (or badly) that my gums can bleed a little. It can't be any different to what the hygienist does when he or she does the teeth cleaning!

My dentist did say that for an ordinary filling there should be no bleeding involved and therefore no risk of infection. He is not keen on prescribing antibiotics.