The odontostomatological management of patients with cardiovascular diseases

OBJECTIVES Cardiovascular Diseases (CVDs) com prehend a group of diseases of the heart and of the vascular system that affect a considerable portion of the world’s population. Ischemic heart dis ease, rheumatic heart disease and cerebrovascular disease are just some of the most common cardiovascular conditions that can affect the patient who visits the dental office. The aim of this paper is to shed light on the main issues encountered in clinical practice during the dental management of patients with cardiovascular condi tions, giving the necessary guidance to facilitate their proper approach and management. It is important to offer cli nicians adequate information and tools to manage this delicate category of pa tients, from the first visit, to the collection of anamnestic data, to an adequate pre vention of the most common complica tions related to their odontostomatologi cal management. MATERIALS AND METHODS To write this module, a narrative review of the most recent scientific literature was performed, consulting the databas es of PubMed, Cochrane, the National Institute of Statistics (ISTAT), the Italian Ministry of Health, and the World Health Organization (WHO). After a brief epidemiological introduction of CVDs in Italy and in the world, the au thors focused on risk factors, analyzing the correlation between oral health and CVDs. Then the focus was centered on the proper dental management of the patient with cardiovascular diseases, delving into the dental management of each condition. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS In clinical dental practice, the treatment of patients with cardiovascular diseases carries a certain amount of risk, especial ly without an adequate patient’s medical supervision. Therefore, it is important that dentists, oral surgeons and dental hygien ists know the medical problems of each patient, the treatments received and the specific dental treatment options. In addi tion, dental professionals must be able to adopt the most appropriate measures to prevent or treat any emergency situation by acting quickly and effectively. This work offers a review of some systemic and car diac conditions that require particular care in dental clinical practice, such as ar terial hypertension, ischemic heart dis ease, valvular heart diseases and arrhyth mias, providing the clinician with the nec essary notions for a proper and up-to date management of patients presenting these delicate medical conditions. CLINICAL SIGNIFICANCE In the odontostomatological manage ment of the patient with cardiovascular diseases, it is important that dental pro fessionals are able to compile and un derstand, for each patient and at each visit, a detailed medical and pharmaco logical history. It is also essential that the aprile/2025 DENTAL CADMOS dentist and the dental hygienist have a thorough understanding of risk factors and clinical manifestations of the various heart conditions in order to ensure care ful, safe and up-to-date management for their patients. A comprehensive treatment plan formulated in collabora tion with the cardiologist can help to avoid potential risks during dental proce dures. All drug prescriptions, surgical in terventions, and overall management strategies should be in accordance with the latest available guidelines and proto cols. Multidisciplinary planning, support ed by an evidence-based approach, is essential to ensure safe and high-quality dental care treatments for this vulnera ble cohort of patients.