Dental care aims at prevention of local infection that might promote the entry of pathogens into the circulation, thereby threatening infection of implanted devices. Though no definite answer is available in medical literature about the role of concurrent infections or bacteraemia related to surgical/diagnostic procedures and the risk of infective colonization of implanted CIED leads, it is advisable to behave as for prosthetic heart valve recipients.
This means that all procedures causing bleeding and/or tissue damage should be carried out under antibiotic prophylaxis/treatment to prevent lead infection.
In the absence of allergic drug reaction the risk of antibiotic prophylaxis is indeed really negligible compared to the complications related to lead infection.
Please refer also to the Surgical Procedures section for further information.
