Chitosan-Based Oral Dressing Provides Wound Hemostasis

An innovative wound dressing protects the oral tissue with a physical barrier, providing pain relief following tooth extractions and other surgical procedures.

The HemCon hemostatic line of antibacterial dental dressings is fabricated from chitosan, a naturally occurring, biocompatible polysaccharide derived of shrimp shells. Because it has a positive charge, chitosan attracts red blood cells (RBCs), which have a negative charge; the RBCs create a clot over the wound as they are drawn into the dressing. Chitosan is also mucoadhesive, a characteristic that comes into effect when in contact with the wound environment, which facilitates positioning on the wound site and provides another physical protective barrier. The dressings can be custom cut to fit the patient’s needs.


The dressings offer emergency medical professionals, general practitioners, periodontists, and oral surgeons the means to stop bleeding quickly in soft tissue wounds, including extractions, palatal and gingival grafts, and other oral surgeries and oral trauma injuries. The dressings physically seal the wound surface, working independently of the clotting cascade. The dressings, which are active on both sides, are provided in an individually wrapped Mylar vapor barrier pouch, with a shelf life of three years. The HemCon line of hemostatic antibacterial dental dressings is made by HemCon Medical Technologies (Portland, OR, USA).

“This new release of the oral woundcare line will improve accessibility for the large oral surgeons, periodontist, and dentist population to benefit from this cutting edge technology, and allow them to achieve the best possible patient care,” said Bill Shields, senior vice president of sales and business development at Hemcon.

Chitosan is a linear polysaccharide composed of randomly distributed glucoseamine deacetylated and acetylated units. It is made by treating shrimp and other crustacean shells with the alkali sodium hydroxide. Chitosan also has a number of commercial uses, such as a biopesticide to help plants to fight off fungal infections.

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