Managing Patients at Risk of Medication Related Complications Requiring Dental Extractions in Primary Care

When undertaking dental extractions in modern dental practice, two of the complications that have the potential to cause most apprehension for clinicians are the risks of osteonecrosis of the jaws and uncontrollable haemorrhage. This is especially the case when treating older patients because of the increased likelihood of co-morbidities and accompanying polypharmacy which can predispose patients to these problems. Specific medications of concern to practitioners in relation to osteonecrosis risk are antiangiogenic and antiresorptive drugs. Patients taking dual antiplatelet therapy and direct oral anticoagulants require consideration in relation to bleeding risk. With these medications coming increasingly to the forefront over recent years, guidance has been developed by organisations such as the Scottish Dental Clinical Effectiveness Programme (SDCEP). Appropriate use of these guideline should ensure that patients felt to be at particular risk of these complications can frequently be safely managed in primary care. This article aims to provide advice on recognising patients at risk, and to discuss how to utilise key messages within published guidelines when making treatment decisions. The overall intent is to help primary care clinicians who are likely to encounter these patients more and more.