Kidney disease / renal disease and your oral health

How will kidney disease affect your dental treatment?

When people’s kidneys do not function properly, they go through a dialysis or a process that is used to clean the blood. A machine is attached to an artificial tube called a shunt. This is surgically attached to a blood vessel in a patient’s leg or in a patient’s arm. There are dentists out there that think that they lack the knowledge and the experience to treat patients with kidney problems. They think that patients who go through dialysis can have several complications during a dental treatment.

People with renal kidney problems could have bad tastes in their mouth or could also have bad breath. Since the kidneys fail to remove urea from the blood, it will break down in the form of ammonia can cause foul smells and undesirable odours. Since the body cannot absorb calcium properly, some changes in your bones may occur. People with kidney problems could lose bone mass in their jaws and may end up with teeth that are loose and painful.

Several symptoms and complications of kidney disease could affect your dental treatment. This can include anorexia or eating disorders, anemia or blood disorders, heart disease like high blood pressure, dry mouth or xerostomia, loose teeth, periodontal disease, inflammation of the mouth, and inflammation of the salivary glands. These symptoms may be caused by kidney malfunction, medications, and treatments.

People who go through dialysis should have dental treatment on the day after they go through dialysis. People with shunts are most likely taking blood thinners. This will increase the risks of bleeding and haemorrhage. The shunt will put patients at a higher risk of infection. In order to address this, antibiotics will be given before, during, and after the dental treatment. You should also inform the dental staff about the location of your shunt because the blood pressure cuff may damage it. Your blood pressure must be taken on the arm or on the leg that does not have the shunt.

You should provide your dentist with a list of your medications and the corresponding dosages. Your dentist must take into account the medications you are taking before prescribing anything to you. There are medications that could make your kidney problems even worse. Some medications will build up in your body until your next dialysis. Since this type of disease affects our blood count, you must provide your dentist with your latest blood test results during your visits