Exodontia in patients on anticoagulant therapy: A review of the literature

Abstract

Patients on anticoagulant therapy are widely encountered in the clinical, dental practice where increased risks of bleeding complications are a major concern. According to the literature, the recommendation is to suspend anticoagulants five days before surgery, replacing them with Low Molecular Weight Heparin. The aim was to reduce the risk of bleeding without compromising the thromboembolic situation. This literature review aims to investigate the scientific literature protocols to be taken in the pre and postoperative period of dental extractions in patients who use anticoagulants, such as warfarin, aspirin, and dabigrantan; assessing the risk of medication withdrawal and possible bleeding. Articles related to patients who were undergoing anticoagulant treatment and the procedures to be adopted in tooth extractions for these patients were included. The works included are between 2018 and 2022 selected from the virtual libraries: Scientific Electronic Library Online (SciELO), Public MedLine (PubMed), Google Scholar 42 articles were read so that 15 articles were selected, 6 evaluating the risk of bleeding, 9 evaluating surgical conduct and came to the conclusion that the continuation of the use of anticoagulants in patients with indications for dental extractions, can be performed if the patient is in the appropriate medication range and with the tests done and analyzed carefully.