Is Failure of Dental Implants Caused by Osteoporosis Drugs?

 
Common drugs, taken orally, used to treat osteoporosis include Actonel, Boniva, Didronel, Fosamax, Fosamax Plus D and Skelid.

A few intravenously administered include Aredia and Zometa.

Osteonecrosis of the jaw is a serious and severe bone disease that effects the upper and lower jaw caused by reduced local blood supply

 

This is important because there have been cases reported that state osteonecrosis of the jaw has been caused by osteoporosis drugs.  Since there are orally administered and intravenously administered osteoporosis drugs, it is important to note that data from Merck pharmaceutical company shows that patients under treatment with oral bisphosphonate therapy are at a considerably lower risk for Bisphosphonate-Related Osteonecrosis of the jaw than patients treated with IV bisphosphonates.

It seems that the majority of reported cases of bisphosphonate-associated osteonecrosis of the jaw have been diagnosed after dental procedures such as tooth extraction, according to the American Dental Association Council on Scientific Affairs. It was in 2003-04, when oral and maxillofacial surgeons were the first clinicians to recognize and report cases of non-healing exposed, necrotic bone in the maxillofacial region in patients treated with intravenously administered bisphosphonates. 

Oral bisphosphonates are prescribed for a number of diseases, but the American Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons states that oral bisphosphonates are usually prescribed for osteoporosis patients and they are approved to treat osteoporosis and are frequently used to treat osteopenia as well.  They may be also used to treat Paget’s disease of bone, and osteogenesis imperfecta of childhood, but by far they are mostly used for treating osteoporosis.  Intravenous bisphosphonates are primarily used and effective in the treatment and management of cancer-related conditions.  

The Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery at the Sheba Medical Center in Israel concludes that patients undergoing bisphosphonate treatment and who receive dental implants require a prolonged follow-up period to detect any development of Bisphosphonate-related osteonecrosis of the jaw associated with dental implants.

There are a number of calcium supplements 

 

Calcium supplements are controversial as Calcium supplementation was effective in increasing a bone mineral density at regional sites over the first 12-18 months, but these gains were not maintained to 24 months as the Department of Medicine at the University of Melbourne found in one of their studies.


New Chapter Bone Strength Take Care Slim Tabs is a plant-sourced, whole food calcium and Vitamin D3 tablet.






 
Nature Made Calcium Magnesium Zinc Tablets 







Jarrow Fomula's Bone-Up with calcium, vitamin C, vitamin D3 and vitamin K2. Calcium helps teen and young adult women build bone mass and maintain bone health, and may reduce their risk of osteoporosis later in life. 

The Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences at the University of Auckland agrees.  Their recent meta-analyses suggest no benefit from the use of calcium supplements in fracture prevention, and in fact there is evidence of adverse effects of calcium supplementation on hip fracture risk. In sum, there is little substantive evidence of benefit to bone health from the use of calcium supplements.

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