Management of bleeding disorders in the dental practice: managing patients on anticoagulants.

UNLABELLED Patients with bleeding disorders pose a challenge for dentists. Most of these conditions can be safely treated in the general dental practice. Patients who are on anticoagulants represent a large group of bleeding disorders. This article reviews the latest evidence in regard to managing those patients. Most of the articles reviewed seem to agree on the negligible risk of modification or interruption of oral anticoagulants when performing most dental treatments because a decreased risk of excessive bleeding might be associated with an increased risk of thrombo-embolic complications. However, extensive pre-operative assessment is essential to reduce the risk of serious complications. CLINICAL RELEVANCE Patients with bleeding disorders pose a challenge for dentists. Adequate understanding of the underlying medical condition is essential to reduce the risk of dangerous complications.