A review on common chemical hemostatic agents in restorative dentistry

Control of hemorrhage is one of the challenging situations dentists confront during deep cavity preparation and before impressions or cementation of restorations. For the best bond and least contamination it is necessary to be familiar with the hemostatic agents available on the market and to be able to choose the appropriate one for specific situations. This review tries to introduce the commercially available hemostatic agents, discusses their components and their specific features. The most common chemical agents that are widely used in restorative and prosthodontic dentistry according to their components and mechanism of action as well as their special uses are introduced. PubMed and Google Scholar were searched for studies involving gingival retraction and hemostatic agents from 1970 to 2013. Key search words including: "gingival retraction techniques, impression technique, hemostasis and astringent" were searched. Based on the information available in the literature, in order to achieve better results with impression taking and using resin bonding techniques, common hemostatic agents might be recommended before or during acid etching; they should be rinsed off properly and it is recommended that they be used with etch-and-rinse adhesive systems.