A clinical decision making framework for the medically compromised patient: ischemic heart disease and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

Abstract

The intent of this article is to assist dentists and their staff in the assessment of systemic disease, and establish a framework for clinical decision making that correlates medical risk with the anticipated complexity of the planned dental procedures. Two examples of systemic disease, ischemic heart disease (IHD) and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), are discussed in terms of pathophysiology, risk factors, clinical manifestations of disease and disease progression.