Knowledge of medical and dental practitioners towards dental management of patients on anticoagulant and/or anti-platelet therapy

Objective: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the knowledge of medical and dental practitioners towards the dental management of patients who are on anti-coagulant and/or anti platelet agents. Methods: This study was conducted in different hospitals/health centers of Riyadh and AlKharj cities, Saudi Arabia. Participants included practitioners working in government and private medical centers/hospitals. A self-administered questionnaire including details about the practitioners' level of education and work experience was used. Participants were asked questions regarding dental management of patients on anticoagulant therapy and/or antiplatelet therapy. Result: A total of 650 self-administered questionnaires were distributed among dental and medical practitioners, of which, 543 were returned complete. Most of the participants were general (graduate) medical and dental practitioners (59.3%). 15.4% practitioners were in favor of continuing the antiplatelet or anticoagulant medication without alteration while 6.6% were unsure about stopping or continuing the medication. A less than half (35.3%) of the practitioners were using current guidelines for managing such patients. Dentist (58.6%) and medical practitioners (64.7%) felt that evidence based guidelines would be helpful in dental management of patients on antithrombotic therapy. Conclusion: Dentists and medical practitioners showed a wide range of approach in terms of knowledge related to management of patient taking anticoagulant and/or antiplatelet medication prior to dental treatment. There is a need to educate both medical and dental practitioners to use evidence based guidelines for management of such patients.