follow up from anon q. why are antibiotics not reccomened to be taken prior to dental work since PDA increases the risk of endocarditis?
Because decades of studies have shown that prophylactic antibiotics for dental work don’t significantly lower the risk of infective endocarditis except in the highest risk patients. In the past, all patients with heart murmurs were recommended to take prophylactic antibiotics. Now we only recommend them for people with artificial heart valves, prior history of endocarditis, or history of severe congenital heart disorder (like Tetralogy of Fallot, transposition, or hypoplastic left heart).
EDIT: for those who are confused about this question, dental procedures stir up a lot of mouth bacteria and a tiny bit of it can make its way into your blood stream. In the past, the worry was that the bacteria would stick to leaky heart valves and cause endocarditis. This does happen, but it’s exceedingly rare, so like I said, we only treat folks at high risk now.