Background: Although biologic agents represent a growing class of therapeutics, little is known about how these agents affect the provision of dental treatment.
Methods: This retrospective case-control study analyzed patients undergoing dental extraction treated with biologic agents from 2017 through 2020. Complications within 30 days postextraction were recorded.
Results: One-hundred twenty-one patients were treated during 147 encounters. Fifteen patients experienced complications during 16 encounters. Notable or excessive pain was most common (14/16; 88%). Patients who experienced complications were treated with 7 biologic agents: dulaglutide, belimumab, adalimumab, aflibercept, tofacitinib, ranibizumab, and ixekizumab. Complication after extraction-specifically, pain-was elevated for patients receiving aflibercept and ranibizumab. When grouped by class, complications were more common with vascular endothelial growth factor antagonism.
Conclusions: The impact of biologics on the provision of and recovery after dental treatment remains unknown. Pain was most commonly reported. Patients treated with vascular endothelial growth factor antagonists experienced an elevated rate of complications.
Practical implications: This study provides preliminary data on how patients taking biologic agents heal after dental extraction. It is limited by small sample sizes. Further work will build on this data to determine appropriate management of patients taking biologics in the dental setting.
Keywords: Biologic agents; biologics; dental extraction; medically complex dentistry; postextraction complication; postextraction pain.
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