Dental extractions and risk of bleeding in patients taking single and dual antiplatelet treatment

Abstract Our aim was to evaluate the effects of single and dual antiplatelet treatment on postoperative bleeding in patients having dental extractions. The prospective clinical study included 160 patients who were taking antiplatelet drugs. The first group ( n = 43) were taking 2 drugs, mostly aspirin and clopidogrel, and the second group ( n = 117) were taking a single antiplatelet drug in the form of aspirin ( n = 84), clopidogrel ( n = 20), and ticlopidine ( n = 13). All patients had simple dental extractions, and local haemostasis was with resorbable collagen sponges, without suturing of the wound. The control group comprised 105 healthy subjects with a similar number of dental extractions. Bleeding was an “event” if it continued for more than 12 h, made the patient call or return to the dental practice or emergency department, induced a large haematoma or ecchymosis within the oral soft tissues, or required blood transfusion. A total of 110 teeth were extracted on 59 occasions in the dual drug group, and 232 teeth on 128 occasions in the single drug group. Bleeding was recorded after extraction in only one patient on dual aspirin–clopidogrel treatment, which was mild and easily controlled by local haemostasis. The incidence of postoperative bleeding did not differ significantly among the three groups ( χ2 = 4.3, p = 0.11). However, the wound was sutured to achieve effective initial local haemostasis in 4/59 (6.8%) and 2/128 (1.6%) occasions of tooth extractions in the dual and single drug groups, respectively, and none in the control group ( χ2 = 10.02, p = 0.007). Patients taking single or dual antiplatelet drugs may have teeth extracted safely without interruption of treatment using only local haemostatic measures.