Managing a Patient with High Blood Pressure Dr. Sanjukta Mohanta is a general dentist from Brampton, Ontario. I remember telling a patient I couldn’t extract his tooth because his blood pressure was too high. His son became furious, and said, “You don’t care about my dad, why aren’t you helping him?” I calmly replied, “I do care about your dad. That’s why I don’t want to hurt him.” I said, “Performing dental treatments when his blood pressure is this high puts him at increased risk of a heart attack or stroke. I don’t want your dad to go through that.” The father and his son understood, and the patient returned for the extraction after seeing his family physician and getting a prescription for an additional anti-hypertensive medication that lowered his blood pressure. Are you taking your patients’ blood pressure? Do you know when dental treatment should be delayed because of high blood pressure? The following article includes tips on how to take blood pressure and what the guidelines are for managing patients with hypertension. When to take blood pressure Blood pressure should be checked regularly for all patients age 3 and older, according to Hypertension Canada Guidelines. 37 Issue 2 | 2024 |
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