Dofetilide and Going to the Dentist

Posted by cece55 @cece55, May 20 10:25am

Hello my friends in the Heart Rhythm Group,

I have a question for you that has been worrying me. I had my second ablation last May for Afib and Heart Flutter. It did not work and made me worse. I ended up in the hospital three times by ambulance becasue of heart pauses. My EP has been trying not to give me an ablation of my sinus node and a pacemaker. This would be the last resort. Instead, he loaded me on Dofetilide and Propranonal which has been working wonderfully.

I visited Mayo and got a second opinion and they agreed with everythng that my EP had done and said that this last operation which I listed above would be the solution should the Dofetilide stop working.

My EP said we are many steps away from a Sinus Node Ablation and not to worry about it right now. This is not my worry.

I understand that Dofetilide does not pair with many drugs. I recently got tested for my Penicillin allergy and am negative so that opens up a whole window of possibilities should I need it. My concern is getting numbed for the dentist, dermatologist, biopsy, etc... I read that lidocaine, etc... does not pair with Dofetilide and is life threatening. It has made my anxiety, which is up there even worse! Am I worrying for nothing? Is anyone on Dofetilide and have you had to go to the dentist for a cavity or crown and it was not an issue?

The thought of having to be removed from this drug terrifies me, remembering my ambulance drives when Flecanaide stopped working for me last year. Because this is a local numbing agent, am I getting worked up for nothing? I have an appointment with my dentist to talk about this next week.

Any reasurrance would be wonderful.

Thank You and Blessings,
CeCe 55

Interested in more discussions like this? Go to the Heart Rhythm Conditions Support Group.

Lori, Volunteer Mentor | @loribmt | May 20 12:07pm

Hi @cece55 My suggestion is to talk this over with your dentist, dermatologist or whomever you’d be seeing for a treatment that would require an injected local anesthetic. The use of epinephrine, which is in some local anesthetics, is contraindicated for use with Dofetilide.

The good news is that there are several local anesthetics that do not contain epinephrine! Many patients, for various reasons, can’t have epinephrine. So just tell your doctor and they’ll swap the carpule for one without. I think you can exhale now, right?

cece55 | @cece55 | May 21 4:27pm

Hi Lori,

Thank you for responding to me. I know that you can get lidocaine or similar without epinephrine but everywhere I look for drug interaction checks says that Dofetilide and any of the "caines" are high risk. I don't know if this pertains to a local anesthetic or just systemic. I know the shots that I am talking about are locals but I don't really understand the difference except one goes thru your body and one is localized.

I haven't found a drug interaction checker online that I can put in lidocaine local with dofetilide. Plus, most of my doctors from my dentist to my dermatologist have never even heart of Dofetlide. I guess not many people are on it. I don't know why.

I can't exhale yet....hope I'm able to soon. 🙂
CeCe55

Lori, Volunteer Mentor | @loribmt | May 21 5:06pm

In reply to @cece55 "Hi Lori, Thank you for responding to me. I know that you can get lidocaine or..." + (show)

Hi Cece, I think the best person to ask about the interactions of anesthetic drugs with Dofetlide
would be your pharmacist. They have the knowledge and resources to give you a definitive answer.
You could also check with your dentist to see which types they use and the pharmacist can crosscheck those for you. Then you’ll know for sure…and hopefully exhale. 😅 Please let me know what you find out.

Please sign in or register to post a reply.