Dental patients taking anticoagulants or antiplatelet drugs – SDCEP guidance update
The Scottish Dental Clinical Effectiveness Programme (SDCEP) in NES has today published the second edition of its highly accessed Management of Dental Patients Taking Anticoagulants or Antiplatelet Drugs guidance.
This SDCEP guidance update provides clear and practical recommendations to support dental teams to manage and treat this patient group safely and effectively. It is based on the most current evidence and has been updated using SDCEP’s NICE accredited methodology.
Elements of the guidance will also be of relevance to medical professionals, including those who prescribe or dispense anticoagulants and antiplatelet drugs.
The guidance includes advice to inform bleeding risk assessment and decision-making for the dental treatment of patients prescribed anticoagulants or antiplatelet drugs.
The full Guidance and summary Quick Reference Guide, together with information to share with patients before and after they receive dental care, is available via the SDCEP website.
Steven Johnston, Senior Dental Officer, NHS Orkney and Chair of the group
that developed the second edition of the guidance, said:
“Prescribing of anticoagulants andantiplatelet drugs has increased since publication of the first edition of the
guidance and dental practitioners are increasingly likely to encounter patients taking them, particularly the Direct Oral Anticoagulants or DOACs. The second edition of the guidance provides up-to-date recommendations to continue to help clinicians manage dental care for these patients and includes the newer DOACedoxaban and expanded advice about the low molecular weight heparins.”
Of note is that this guidance document is the first SDCEP document to include consideration of the potential environmental impact of the recommendations and clinical advice in this guidance. Advice points to support sustainable oral health are indicated with a leaf icon.
SDCEP is actively developing its methodology to include sustainability considerations into all their new and updated guidance documents.