General advice

Refer to Section 4 of the full guidance.

For all patients taking anticoagulants or antiplatelet drugs requiring dental treatment likely to cause bleeding (see Bleeding risks for dental procedures):

• plan treatment for early in the day and week
• provide pre-treatment instructions
• treat atraumatically, use appropriate local measures and only discharge the patient once haemostasis has been achieved
• if travel time to emergency care is a concern, place particular emphasis on the use of measures to avoid complications
• provide patient with written post-treatment advice and emergency contact details

Do not interrupt anticoagulant or antiplatelet therapy for:

• patients with prosthetic metal heart valves or coronary stents
• patients who have had a pulmonary embolism or deep vein thrombosis in the last three months
• patients on anticoagulant therapy for cardioversion