Attitude and practice of dentists in patients taking oral antiplatelet and anticoagulant medications

PurposeIn everyday practice, dentists are confronted with the dilemma of patients on antiplatelet and anticoagulant agents who require dental procedures.The present survey aimed to exhibit Turkish dentists' awareness and attitude towards patients using blood thinners prior to dental procedures and point out the significance of this issue.MethodsAn electronic survey was administered to dental practitioners. Demographics, career details, answerbacks to medical consultation and agents consisting of 20-questions investigating approaches to patients using antiplatelet and anticoagulant agents were recorded.Data were collected in the online platform and analyzed.ResultsA total of 500 dentists answered the survey, of which 48.2% were female and 51.8% were male. %57.8 of all respondents inaccurately marked warfarin as an antiplatelet agent. In patients who underwent coronary stent implantation,24.6% of dentists unfortunately stated that they always discontinue the actual medications before surgery. The majority of cardiology consultants interrupted the drug 5-7 days before the intervention in patients receiving antiplatelet therapy.16.6% of consultants made a decision based on international normalized ratio (INR) level of the patients using direct oral anticoagulant (DOAC).ConclusionAlthough dental procedures do not posses a high bleeding risk and can be safely performed without interruption of blood thinners, there is an overestimation of the risk of bleeding by the dentists.It's understood that a considerable number of participants are not familiar with the blood thinners, coagulation tests and perioperative management.