The hypertensive patient in dental practice: updated recommendations for classification, prevention, monitoring, and dental management.

The Joint National Committee on Prevention, Detection, Evaluation, and Treatment of High Blood Pressure recently published new guidelines for the management of adult patients at risk for developing hypertension, cardiovascular disease, and associated conditions. These new guidelines include a new risk category (designated as prehypertension) and indicate a lower range for classifying normal blood pressure. This article provides a brief review of recent literature and highlights the pertinent changes from previous guidelines. In consideration of the new hypertension categories, the implications of monitoring blood pressure in the dental office are discussed and the classifications are correlated with specific recommendations for dental management.