Abstract: Objective To evaluate the feasibility of dental implantation therapy without altering antiplatelet therapy in patients taking low dose aspirin.Methods Patients taking antiplatelet drug of low dose of aspirin and receiving dental implantation without altering aspirin dosage from June 2012 to March 2015 were enrolled into the trial group, the same number of 45 patients who had not taken oral anti-platelet drugs or anti-coagulant agents served as the control group after propensity-score matching. All implantation surgeries were performed without extensive gingival flapping or bone grafting. Hemorrhage condition of the implantation sites was checked 30 minutes after the surgery and additional hemostatic measures were supplemented if necessary.Patients were discharged until no blood oozing was observed. Telephone interviews were conducted at 24 hours, 72 hours after the procedure and a follow up visit was made 1 week later. The rates of post-operation hemorrhage were determined and analyzed using Fisher's exact test with SPSS 19.0 (SPSS, Inc., Chicago, IL, USA) software, and statistical significance was set at 0.05 level. Results There were 2 immediate postoperative bleeding cases in the aspirin group and 1 case in the control group. No significant difference was detected between the two groups (P=0.50). None was observed for late postoperative bleeding and severe postoperative bleeding in either group.Conclusion Our study support the recommendation that there is no indication to alter single low dose aspirin before simple dental implantation surgery, and the local hemostatic measures are sufficient to control bleeding.

Key words: hemorrhage, anti-platelet therapy, aspirin, dental implantation