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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Jean1014 07/13/2013

Hello everyone! Was wondering what others experiences may be with the dentist while on Coumadin. I know basic stuff can be done without a problem, but has anyone had and major work done? If so, did you have to go off Coumadin for it? I am calling my dentist on Monday but thought I would ask here in the meantime.

I am a HUGE baby when it comes to any kind of dental work to begin with, but now I am wondering about this aspect too. At the moment, I am in pain and missing advil!! :) I had a root canal in this particular tooth years ago, but never had it capped. Last week I was eating a piece of candy and almost the entire tooth just came right out! Didn't hurt then, but it sure does now. On the bright side, it is the last tooth so I don't really have to go through an implant if I don't want to. The down side is that the root and a very very small piece on the outside of the gum is still there.... this is NOT going to be fun!

TossNTurn 07/13/2013

Different dentists have different rules on this. Mine doesn't care that I'm on warfarin for routine stuff (including having a filling re-done last year), but I imagine there might be a point where the dentist would be concerned with the level of dental work you might be dealing with.

I've heard of dentists on here who won't touch someone on warfarin, but I really think they're just wusses. It's totally to-able and lots of us do it. Check with your dentist and see what he is comfortable with. If necessary, coordinate with your doc.

Seriously, life is so miserable if your teeth are bothering you, so I'd get it fixed up ASAP.

Jean1014 07/13/2013

Thanks TNT. Yeah going to call first thing Monday morning because I am miserable! Since it broke above the gum line, think that might complicate things a bit. I actually think they might end up sending me to an oral surgeon. Xanax here I come!!!!! lol

mj568 07/13/2013

I've had root canals done on Coumadin. I will also be having an extraction done in a couple of weeks.......NOT happy....but it will also be done without stopping the Coumadin.
I clot very easily so dental surgeon wasn't happy to let me stop. Rather it will be done in hospital.
I have massive anxiety about dental work. Not because of the Coumadin just because they scare me.

Jean1014 07/13/2013

mj I feel your pain!!!! I am the same way with the massive anxiety and even though I take Xanax before I go, I am still a mess.
I guess I will find out Monday how this will work. I am just thinking they will not be able to do a normal extraction since there is almost nothing left to grab on to. Though I have had a number of root canals, never had a tooth pulled. Under normal circumstances that would petrify me, never mind this!

deleted_user 07/13/2013

I never had any major dental work done while I was on warfarin, but I did have the conversation with my dentist in case something came up. Basically he told me he works with people on warfarin all the time (including his own grandfather). He just makes sure they have an INR test the day before any work to make sure it isn't ridiculously high. He did say he even did extractions for people on warfarin, but he requires anyone on warfarin to stay in his office until the bleeding has completely stopped since it is ultimately his responsibility to make sure the bleeding is under control.

More2be 07/14/2013

When I had occasions to visit a dentist, even the 20-something dental assistant was familiar with anticoagulation when I mentioned Warfarin. It was standard practice that most dental work, including fillings and cleanings, could be done safely. It was that much more so since I had a newly tested in-range INR. Major procedures could require temporary Warfarin cessation, perhaps with Lovenox / Arixtra bridging.
My two fillings were done without incident.

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