USE OF INR TO ASSESS DEGREE OF ANTICOAGULATION IN PATIENTS WHO HAVE DENTAL PROCEDURES

Dental professionals frequently treat patients who are receiving antic oagulation therapy. Proper treatment may require adjustment of the ant icoagulant dose usually on the basis of the patient's current prothrom bin time. This test has been shown to be less accurate than previously thought. The international normalized ratio is another method that at tempts to standardize the degree of anticoagulation and to improve rep roducibility of results. This system is slowly being implemented in la boratories in the United States. Practitioners who treat patients taki ng anticoagulants need to be aware of this system in order to make app ropriate management decisions.