WA dental patient's death was preventable

It was a "terrible irony" that a woman who had to take medication as a result of a dental procedure overcame her fear of dentists only to die after having teeth extracted, the West Australian coroner says.

Myosotis Julianna Moriarty, 68, died after being found unconscious in bed by her daughter on December 18, 2010, two days after her procedure.

While Ms Moriarty had a history of heart disease, her ongoing use of anticoagulant medication warfarin was due to an infection she developed from dental treatment in 1987.

She had delayed seeing a dentist for several years but overcome her fear and anxiety to get much needed dental care.

The WA Coroner's Court heard nothing unusual happened during Ms Moriarty's teeth extraction but paramedics could not revive her when she was found unconscious.

A post-mortem found Ms Moriarty died from blood loss as a result of having her teeth removed, together with valvular heart disease.

Ms Moriarty's dentist Patrick Colgan did not provide her with written post-op instructions, although he did tell her verbally what to do about bleeding and pain control.

Coroner Barry King said in findings handed down on Thursday that she was probably considerably anxious after the procedure and may not have been able to process or remember all of the details Dr Colgan provided.

It was not clear why she didn't seek help when she continued to bleed, but may have not wanted to make a fuss.

He said her death was a terrible irony and preventable.

He found Dr Colgan had not followed certain guidelines, including administering tranexamic mouthwash, and said his conduct should be referred to the Dental Board of Australia.

"It is important that dentists emphasise to patients with potential ongoing complications that they must seek treatment without delay."