Association Between Anticoagulant Use And Post-Extraction Bleeding In Dental Patients

Abstract

Anticoagulant and antiplatelet medications are often prescribed to manage thromboembolic conditions and prevent cerebrovascular and cardiovascular complications. However, these drugs also increase the risk of bleeding following invasive dental procedures. The present review focused on evaluating post-extraction bleeding associated with anticoagulants and identified vitamin K antagonists, direct oral anticoagulants, and heparins as the main drug classes used in dental patients. Various observational studies, randomized controlled trials, and systematic reviews have documented the relationship between anticoagulants and post-extraction bleeding, yet the findings remain inconsistent. Decision frameworks to balance the risk of bleeding and thromboembolism have also been proposed, but the specific anticoagulant-drug combinations to be used in dental practice are not clearly established (AlSheef et al., 2021) (Huang et al., 2022).