Dental News - Implant failure may be related to bisphosphonate use

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Implant failure may be related to bisphosphonate use

Implant patients should better stay away from bisphosphonate, research suggests. (DTI/Photo Dmitry Lobanov/Shutterstock)
Daniel Zimmermann, DTI

Daniel Zimmermann, DTI

Thu. 26 April 2012

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NEW YORK CITY, N.Y., USA: Results derived from a study conducted at the University of New York College of Dentistry seem to confirm the assumption that the administration of oral bisphosphonates is connected to dental implant failure. In the case control study more than 300 female patients having experienced failing dental implants were compared to woman whose implants were still in place.

Clinical evaluations at the Department of Periodontology and Implant Dentistry started in early 1997 and were stopped in late 2004. According to the researchers, the clinical data gathered from these examinations showed that in women whose implants failed, the odds of having taken bisphosphonate orally were almost three times higher. Dental implant failure related to the use of oral bisphosphonate also seemed to be more likely to occur in the maxilla.

Neither the quantity or length of bisphosphonate use was evaluated.

Although the new study indicates that the risk for implant failure is very small, the researchers concluded that oral bisphosphonate could pose a risk to successful dental implant therapy and should be handled with caution.

Earlier research on the connection remains largely ambiguous. Latest results from Sweden and Australia have also found small risks of implant failure, whether bisphosphonate was taken by patients before or after implant placement.

To this day, clinical organisation recommends patients who are long-term users to stop taking bisphosphonates during dental implant procedures to avoid complications. The coumpound which is taken orally is usually prescripted to patients suffering from osteoporosis. It can also be applied intravenously as part of secondary bone cancer treatment.

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