Bisphosphonates; Boniva, Fosamax or Actonel - strengthen your bones, but weaken your jaw?

Bisphosphonates are a type of medication that may be used to treat osteoporosis or used in patients who are having cancer treatment. Women often are the most common group of people that take these medications. The most common names of these medications are Boniva, Fosamax or Actonel but there are others. These medications can help strengthen your bones, but can have dangerous risks to your oral health.

It is recommended that patients who start taking bisphosphonate medications alert their dental professionals that they are taking these medications. These medications should not stop you form receiving routine dental care. In fact it is important to continue routine dental care to prevent the need for invasive dental treatment.

In the event that you may need more complex dental treatment there is a simple blood test that can be done to determine now these medications have affected you. The test results will help you and our dental office determine how to proceed toward your dental treatment. Much like your physician does a pre surgical physical and blood test to ensure you are healthy during surgery, this blood test allows us to have the same knowledge about keeping you healthy and the success of your dental treatment.

The results of the simple blood test will tell us if the bisphosphonate medication in your system with put you at high or low risk of complications, that being osteoradionecrosis of the jaw. It can best be described as bone death, where the affected area literally dissolves or rots away. This test illustrates the connection between the mouth and the rest of your body and reinforces the ideal that what happens in the mouth can affect your entire body. We are proud to be charter members of the American Academy for Oral Systemic Health where practioners learn to treat you being mindful of your overall health, not just your teeth.

Women's hormone now associated with gum disease

Women, keep those toothbrushes and dental floss handy. A comprehensive review of women's health studies by Charlene Krejci, associate clinical professor at the Case Western Reserve University School of Dental Medicine, has shown a link between women's health issues and gum disease.

Across the ages, hormonal changes take place during puberty, menstruation, pregnancy and menopause. Krejci found female hormones that fluctuate throughout women's lives can change conditions in the mouth that allow bacteria to grow, enter the blood, and exacerbate certain health issues like bone loss, fetal death and pre-term births.

Her overview of the literature was reported in the article, "Women's Health: Periodontitis and its Relation to Hormonal Changes, Adverse Pregnancy Outcomes and Osteoporosis" in the May issue of Oral Health and Preventive Dentistry.

The Case Western Reserve University periodontist reviewed 61 journal articles with nearly 100 studies for a collective answer on whether hormones have a relationship to gum disease and specific women's health issues like preterm labor, bone loss, and the side effect of hormonal replacement therapy.

"There's definitely a gender-specific connection between women's hormones, gum disease, and specific health issues impacting women," Krejci said.

"Although women tend to take better care of their oral health than men, the main message is women need to be even more vigilant about maintaining healthy teeth and gums to prevent or lessen the severity of some of women-specific health issues," Krejci said.

In addition to the brushing and flossing daily regimen, Krejci recommends visiting the dentist at least every six months, and more if there are any gum problems found or women suffer from bone loss or are pregnant.

She added that it is widely known that hormones cause some women gum problems during pregnancy. Women already susceptible to gum disease before being pregnant, she advises, need to make sure that these oral problems are treated.

Although women were once discouraged from seeing the dentist while pregnant, she said that scaling and planing of the roots of teeth to eliminate some gum disease is now recommended during pregnancy for women. Severe gum disease requiring surgery is still generally postponed until after the baby's birth.

Gum disease begins with the build up of bacterial plaque on the teeth and under the gums. Untreated it can cause irritation and inflammation during which harmful and toxic byproducts are released. These toxins erode the bone that anchors teeth and cause breaks and bleeding in the gums.

Reference : medicalnewstoday.com

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