Pulmonary Embolism Support Group

By far the most common form of pulmonary embolism is a thromboembolism, which occurs when a blood clot, generally a venous thrombus, becomes dislodged from its site of formation and embolizes to the arterial blood supply of one of the lungs. Symptoms may include difficulty breathing, pain during breathing, and more rarely circulatory instability and death.

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blood thinner & dental work

gratitudehopefaith
gratitudehopefaith
I am nervous about getting a cap. The dentist is not concerned about the blood thinner. The hematologist thinks I will be fine as well. I, however, am uneasy, as I have not yet had dental work since taking my blood thinner. I am not coming off the thinner any time soon, so it is time to think about those biannual trips to the dentist. Please share any advice you've been given by doctors regarding thinners and dentistry. I'm hesitant to ask you to share experiences; there are probably some horror stories out there. Trying to avoid those, I suppose. Thank you for your help.
mj568
mj568
Hi, I have had a number of dental procedures since being on warfarin including an extraction and a root canal. I am a very anxious dental patient ( I was even off warfarin ).
I found a dentist I was comfortable with, Explained my concerns and talked through any work needed.
All went wel
corvid100
corvid100
I just had a crown done. I let my dentist know that I'm now on warfarin, she assured me it wouldn't be a problem, and it wasn't. Everything went very smoothly. It wasn't any different from my usual experience.
gratitudehopefaith
gratitudehopefaith
Good to know. Thank you for sharing.
deleted_user
deleted_user
I had dental work done while I was on warfarin. It just took a little longer for the bleeding to stop, and my dentist made sure I didn't leave his office before it did, so aside from a little extra time in the waiting room, it was really no big deal.
More2be
More2be
Most dental work is compatible with being on Warfarin. Personally, I have had two fillings, with requisite drilling, since being on it. If it were something like a root canal or multiple tooth extractions, your dentist and PCP may advise additional precautions such as bridging.
JuliesLife
JuliesLife
I was wondering this myself. I avoid the dentist due to my anxiety (pre-dating the PE) but I finally went last week. I had a deep deep cleaning which was a little painful but they assured me it was totally safe on the thinner. They want to refer me to a specialist to pull my 2 wisdom teeth out and I'm not sure about that. It seems like bleeding would be a problem! The normal cleaning was fine though. I just had to rinse my mouth a few extra times.
rmb
rmb
JuliesLife, it'll depend on the oral surgeon and how much is involved in extracting the wisdom teeth if you'll need to come off warfarin for that procedure. I know people here who've had extractions without having to come off anticoagulants. I had a consultation for the removal of mine and the oral surgeon preferred that I just have an an INR below a certain level.

I've had regular cleanings and some fillings repaired with no issues while being on warfarin. I don't think anyone is going to bleed out from a dental cleaning, although some people here have said their dentists don't want to do cleanings while they're on warfarin. I think that's silly.
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