Dental Management of Patients Taking Direct Oral Anticoagulants (DOACs): Cross-sectional study

Abstract

Abstract Introduction: Bleeding following dental surgical procedures is common and significant, especially in patients with compromised haemostasis, such as patients taking anticoagulants. With the advent of direct oral anticoagulants (DOACs), they have been used as an alternative to conventional anticoagulants (such as warfarin) to treat patients with non-valvular AF, and in the prevention of stroke and systemic embolism. This study aims to determine the knowledge of DOACs among dental professionals and evaluate the dental management of patients receiving DOACs. Materials and Methods: This is a cross-sectional study (survey) consisting of 30 pretested questions. The survey has been designed in an electronic format using Survey Monkey to facilitate an easy and quick approach to reaching participants (dental clinicians within the UK). Statistical analysis was undertaken using Fisher’s exact test to test for associations on IBM SPSS Statistics Version 28 software. Results: Fifty-two dental clinicians (27 females and 25 males) participated and completed the questionnaire. Seven dental clinicians were prosthodontists and 14 worked in oral medicine, periodontics, special care dentistry, orthodontics, paediatric dentistry, maxillofacial surgery, community dentistry and implantology. 86.5% of dental clinicians did manage at least one patient taking DOACs in the last six months and 13.5% of them did experience in patients taken DOACs required an A&E visit. Fifty-five per cent of dental professional feel confident in managing patients taking DOACs when compared with those taking warfarin. Conclusion: Dental clinicians should keep their knowledge with regard to DOACs up to date and practice according to the available guidelines. This paper shows that the overall performance of GDP, dental trainees, PGs and dental officers in managing patients taking DOACs is below average and indicates some deficiencies that needs to be addressed.