Update on the management of anticoagulated and antiaggregated patients in dental practice: Literature review

Abstract

Background: Oral antiplatelet and anticoagulant drugs are widely used in a large number of patients visiting the dentist, and there has been much controversy over the years towards their clinical management. The aim to carry out a literature review in order to develop an update on dental management in anticoagulated and / or anti aggregated patients, focusing on oral surgery. Material and Methods: A bibliographic search was carried out in PubMed on studies published between January 1, 2018, until December 10, 2020, using the keywords (“antiplatelet” OR “antiplatelets”) AND (“dentistry”), and (“anticoagulant” OR “anticoagulants”) AND (“dentistry”). Results: The number of studies included in this review was 13, and the number of patients among all of them was 3.497 patients under treatment with some type of antithrombotic drug, who underwent different oral surgery treatments. Conclusions: There is a low risk of peri- and postoperative bleeding events during basic oral surgery treatments in antiplatelet or anticoagulated patients, which can be easily managed through the use of local haemostatic measures.