Blood Thinners and Dental Procedures

To Stop or Not to Stop? Managing Your Blood Thinner When You Need a Dental Procedure

This month, we welcome Dr. Gregory Piazza for a patient primer on blood thinners and dental procedures. Dr. Piazza is an Associate Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School, Director of Vascular Medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, and a longtime member of NATF’s Board of Directors.

In this webinar, Dr. Piazza…

• Discusses what to do if you’re on a blood thinner or antiplatelet agent (like aspirin) and need a dental procedure
• Provides guidance from the American Dental Association
• Addresses when your dentist should consider contacting your anticoagulation prescriber 

Key takeaways:

• It is typically not necessary to interrupt your blood thinner before a simple dental procedure (such as a cleaning, single tooth extraction, or cavity filling).
• Your dentist does not need to routinely consult your doctor about your anticoagulation before a simple dental procedure.
• For more complex procedures, or if there’s concern about high bleeding risk, the American Dental Association encourages a collaborative discussion between your dentist and doctor.