[The use of antibiotic prophylaxis prior to dental procedures for the prevention of prosthetic joint infection].

Prosthetic joint infection (PJI) is a severe illness which may cause pain and discomfort, may damage the quality of life and may even be life-threatening. A variety of studies have demonstrated the presence of bacteria in a small but potentially dangerous number of prosthetic joint infections that may have originated in the oral cavity. Some dental treatments such as calculus removal, extractions, dental implants placements etc. and daily oral hygiene routines such as tooth brushing may cause bacteremia. Recently the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS) published updated guidelines for antibiotic prophylaxis to prevent prosthetic joint infections. These guidelines suggest a direct and established connection between dental treatments and prosthetic joint infections, and expand the criteria to prescribe antibiotic prophylaxis prior to dental procedures associated with bacteremia. The purpose of this review is to introduce these new guidelines, and to review the literature regarding the relationship between dental care and prosthetic joint infections.

Oral motor parafunctions among heavy drug addicts and their effects on signs and symptoms of temporomandibular disorders.

AIMS: To investigate the prevalence of temporomandibular disorders (TMD), bruxism, and other oral habits among drug addicts compared to a normal, non-addicted, matched control population, and to assess the detrimental effect of long-term drug abuse on the parameters studied. METHODS: Subjects included 55 drug-addicted patients (51 males and 4 females) randomly selected from long-term addicts using "hard" narcotics and attending a methadone maintenance center and a control group of 52 normal non-addicted individuals (48 males and 4 females) matched to the addicts for age, gender, and socioeconomic status. A clinical examination and a questionnaire were used. One examiner determined that all questions were correctly understood and answered, and a second examiner performed the clinical examinations and was unaware of the results of the questionnaire. RESULTS: The addicted group had a high prevalence of orofacial motor behavior (bruxing, clenching) as well as signs and symptoms of TMD (morning headache, joint noises, joint and masticatory muscle tenderness to palpation, and tooth wear) compared to the controls. Active (voluntary) jaw opening was significantly smaller, although within an acceptable range when compared to the controls. CONCLUSION: Long-term drug abuse detrimentally affects the stomatognathic system, as expressed in a high prevalence of oral motor behavior and signs and symptoms of TMD.