Safety and efficacy of bone wax in patients on oral anticoagulant therapy.

Cardiovascular conditions, apart from neoplastic diseases, remain the major cause of death in developed countries; therefore, the number of patients receiving oral anticoagulants is constantly increasing. Anticoagulant therapy considerably reduced mortality in patients with history of myocardial infarction among others. Although many interventions may be performed without withdrawal of the anticoagulant and tooth extraction was qualified as a procedure of low hemorrhage risk, a majority of dentists refer the patient to a cardiologist several days before the elective tooth extraction to withdraw anticoagulants. The aim of the study was to evaluate the efficacy and safety of bone wax used to stop bleeding after dental procedures in a group of patients on chronic anticoagulant therapy and find an answer to a question, whether it is justified to temporarily withdraw anticoagulants for this type of procedures. The study involved 176 patients on chronic anticoagulant therapy undergoing tooth extraction (154 subjects) or surgical extraction of a retained tooth (48 subjects). After the procedure, in each case the alveolus was filled with bone wax to stop bleeding. In all patients involved in the study bleeding from the alveolus was successfully stopped during the procedure. None of the subjects reported increased bleeding from the operational site after coming back home. Bone wax is a good, efficient, and safe material to block bleeding from the alveolus following tooth extractions, also in patients on chronic anticoagulant therapy. The study demonstrated that withdrawal or adjustment of anticoagulant therapy is not necessary before an elective tooth extraction.