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Oral Surgery · single question

Patient needs open-heart surgery in 2 weeks; teeth 18 and 19 are non-restorable and 17 has a large apical lesion. Best plan?

  1. Prophylaxis AND extract 18, 19, 17 BEFORE surgery
  2. Prophylaxis before, extractions after surgery
  3. Prophy + extraction + RCT before surgery
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Correct answer: A. Prophylaxis AND extract 18, 19, 17 BEFORE surgery

  • A. Correct. Active oral infection must be eliminated BEFORE cardiac surgery; non-restorable/infected teeth are extracted and a cleaning performed to reduce bacteremia/endocarditis and surgical risk.
  • B. Incorrect. Delaying extraction of infected teeth until after surgery leaves infection sources during a high-risk cardiac procedure.
  • C. Incorrect. RCT on non-restorable teeth is futile; they should be extracted, not endodontically treated.

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