Anticoagulants and dentistry
Types of blood flow

Normally, blood clots happen whenever there’s an injury to the cells lining blood vessels, like when you get a cut. Blood usually flows smoothly through the body – this is called laminar flow. However, abnormal blood clots can form (inside the heart or major blood vessels) if there are irregularities in blood flow, like pooling, eddying and swirling.

Atrial fibrillation causes pooling of blood in the atria, as the quivering atria do not contract well enough to push all the blood into the ventricles.

Internal clots can be transported by the circulation to the brain and cause a stroke, or to the lung and cause a pulmonary embolism.

Where there is high risk of internal clot formation, anticoagulants are prescribed. These interfere with the clotting process and make it hard for clots to form. This saves lives. Unfortunately, it also makes it much more difficult to stop bleeding when this happens through (for example) trauma or surgery.