Retrospective review of osteonecrosis of the jaw due to bisphosphonate treatment
 

http://annonc.oxfordjournals.org/cgi...ract/17/8/1197
Bisphosphonates and osteonecrosis of the jaw: cause and effect or a post hoc fallacy?

This article may be of interest to those getting in particular Zometa to protect bones against fractures or to reduce bone pain as well as slowing cancer progression.
The incidence of osteonecrosis of the jaw appears to be low (1.5%) & although there is no proof of cause & effect it seems in the majority (69%) of cases related to a complication of dental surgery.
Since the the jaw problem can in most cases become a permanent one with some serious quality of life aspects, dental procedures should be avoided while being treated with bisphosphonates.

Prevention and Management of Side Effects Associated with Bisphosphonates Evaluated
 

Here is a related article on side effects of bisphosphonates (including osteonecrosis of the jaw, the subject of the previous post) :
http://patient.cancerconsultants.com/news.aspx?id=37855
Prevention and Management of Side Effects Associated with Bisphosphonates Evaluated

omega-3 FA may be a useful adjunct in the treatment of periodontal disease.
 

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/q...=pubmed_docsum


1: J Dent Res. 2006 Jul;85(7):648-52.Click here to read Links
Omega-3 Fatty Acid effect on alveolar bone loss in rats.

* Kesavalu L,
* Vasudevan B,
* Raghu B,
* Browning E,
* Dawson D,
* Novak JM,
* Correll MC,
* Steffen MJ,
* Bhattacharya A,
* Fernandes G,
* Ebersole JL.

Center for Oral Health Research, College of Dentistry, 159 HSRB, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY 40536-0305, USA; and.

Gingival inflammation and alveolar bone resorption are hallmarks of adult periodontitis, elicited in response to oral micro-organisms such as Porphyromonas gingivalis. We hypothesized that omega (omega)-3 fatty acids (FA) dietary supplementation would modulate inflammatory reactions leading to periodontal disease in infected rats. Rats were fed fish oil (omega-3 FA) or corn oil (n-6 FA) diets for 22 weeks and were infected with P. gingivalis. Rats on the omega-3 FA diet exhibited elevated serum levels of eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), documenting diet-induced changes. PCR analyses demonstrated that rats were orally colonized by P. gingivalis; increased IgG antibody levels substantiated this infection. P. gingivalis-infected rats treated with omega-3 FA had significantly less alveolar bone resorption. These results demonstrated the effectiveness of an omega-3 FA-supplemented diet in modulating alveolar bone resorption following P. gingivalis infection, and supported that omega-3 FA may be a useful adjunct in the treatment of periodontal disease. Abbreviations: PUFA, polyunsaturated fatty acid; EPA, eicosapentanoic acid; DHA, docosahexanoic acid; and PCR, polymerase chain-reaction.

PMID: 16798867 [PubMed - in process]