ABSTRACT
Conclusion:
Although most of the Turkish dentists were aware of coronary stents, they were not familiar with the differences between stents,clopidogrel therapy and the complications of interrupting the therapy. Most of them consulted a cardiologist before performing dental procedures inpatients with cardiovascular disease. Increasing the knowledge and sensitivity of dentists about this issue may be effective in preventing possible complications.
Results:
89% of the participants knew about coronary stents and 92% were consulting a cardiologist before dental procedures. However, knowledge about clopidogrel was only 8%. Only 1 participant had an idea about stent thrombosis. While 76 participants said they were interrupting aspirin treatment, only 6 participants were interrupting clopidogrel treatment before the procedure. Finally, the awareness of international guidelines among the participants was 20%.
Methods:
89% of the participants knew about coronary stents and 92% were consulting a cardiologist before dental procedures. However, knowledge about clopidogrel was only 8%. Only 1 participant had an idea about stent thrombosis. While 76 participants said they were interrupting aspirin treatment, only 6 participants were interrupting clopidogrel treatment before the procedure. Finally, the awareness of international guidelines among the participants was 20%.
Objective:
As the prevalance of coronary artery disease is increasing in our aging country, percutaneous interventions and number of coronary stent implantations are increasing. Long-time dual antiplatelet therapy is recommended by different cardiology societies after coronary stenting. During this long therapy period, patients may be faced with dental problems and need invasive dental procedures. Especially in patients with drug eluting stents, withdrawal of antiplatelet therapy may cause stent thrombosis and death (1). We planned to investigate this frequently observed problem from a different point of view and evaluated the awareness of dental health care professionals and their approach to such patients using antiplatelet therapy.
