The dental patient with renal disease: precautions and guidelines.

Hemodialysis and related methods of treatment are keeping renal patients alive and able to carry on many of their daily activities. These patients, however, are limited in the scope within which they can function. Dietary requirements, fluid intake, and most medications must be rigidly controlled. Many commonly used drugs can damage the kidneys and must be avoided. Dentists who treat patients with renal insufficiency must avoid prescribing or administering nephrotoxic drugs or agents that become dangerous with loss of kidney function.