Dental Treament For Celiacs And Fosamax

[SilverDreamMachine]

Hi, just joined the forum as I hope someone will be able to offer me some advice.

I need two implants, but have been advised by my dentist that as I`m a celiac there is a risk of infection leading to possible severe damage to my jaw bone.

I`ve done a little on-line research and now am worried about the damage fosamx may be doing to me. I`ve been taking it for 2 years following my diagnosis and so far as I know, no side effects.

So my q`s are:

i) Is there any uptodate research on the dangers of taking fosamx?

ii) What are the risks of dental work for people on fosamx or people who have decided t stop taking it.

Any help would be appreciated.

Peter

[Asianmom]

Please excuse my foggy pregnancy brain as it has been a long time since I worked with these bisphosphonate products. I used to take Actonel. I chose Actonel because the half life was shorter vs. Fosamax, and Actonel did not oversupress the bone turnover like other products may do. Fosamax has a very long half life, so the product is working in your body a while after you stop taking it. So unless the dental work is a long, long time from now, stopping the product right before the surgery may not make that much of a difference. Having said that most of the dental issues that was reported in studies was very rare. It is called ONJ, osteonecrosis of the jaw. It has been reported and has to do with the way fosamax turns bone over to stop the fracture process. Ok...sorry this is getting way long winded. At the end of the day you can stop Fosamax to make your dentist feel better and have the procedure and should not have too many complications. Otherwise after the procedure you could switch to a different product if you would like. I believe the ONJ that was found was in a very few number of patients, and those that has been on the product 7+ years.

I am not a physician, and just wanted to let you know what research was out there that I remember. I will check with some of my old colleagues to see if there is any new updated research.

GOOD LUCK!

[Asianmom]

Thought I would update after talking and doing some research with colleages! Really the half life is pretty long with fosamax. Many oral surgeons are more aware of the dangers of infection and ONJ...so a lot more of them are aware of the early signs of infection. Some start medication early just as a preventative. The rate of ONJ is still pretty low and seems to be much more prevalent(still very rare) with drugs like Fosamax vs some of the other bisphosphonates. If this is a surgery you need right away, most will recommend that you do it and just stop the Fosamax when you can before hand, but it is working actively in your body for a long time, so maybe going to a shorter acting half life product like Actonel etc may be an option for the future. Again it is a rare thing, so only you and your surgeon can decide what you want to do...but in my opinion, for what it's worth, I think you should be fine. Just take the antibiotics that are recommended and take them until the course is complete and GOOD LUCK!

Please feel free to ask anything else, and I can see if I can get more answers!

Hope this helps a little!

[Roda]

My mother can not take any of the drugs for osteoporsis. She started to have destruction of her tmj's and other side effects. Her endocrinologist advised her not to take any of them. I don't think severe reactions like hers is all that common though.

[Gemini]

Hi, just joined the forum as I hope someone will be able to offer me some advice.

I need two implants, but have been advised by my dentist that as I`m a celiac there is a risk of infection leading to possible severe damage to my jaw bone.

I`ve done a little on-line research and now am worried about the damage fosamx may be doing to me. I`ve been taking it for 2 years following my diagnosis and so far as I know, no side effects.

So my q`s are:

i) Is there any uptodate research on the dangers of taking fosamx?

ii) What are the risks of dental work for people on fosamx or people who have decided t stop taking it.

Any help would be appreciated.

Peter

Hello Peter,

I have a lot of experience with this subject so I will throw in my 2 cents worth.....

Taking Fosimax or any other bone meds can cause major problems for those seeking implants. You do not know if it will affect you but if it does, there is no fix for the resulting problems. I have never taken bone meds and will not as I am currently undergoing 2 dental implants myself. I chose to join a gym and build bone the old fashioned way....weight training.

Dentists around where I live make you sign a waiver if you are taking bone meds or plan to in the future, if you are seeking implants. The incidence of jaw necrosis is higher and they do not want to be sued if you develop a problem. My implant dentist was very relieved to hear I am against taking them but still made me sign the waiver before he started the implants. I am halfway through the process and everything is going really well. I also had bone grafting done because my bone loss was so severe. I generated good bone for the base and have had one of the posts put in. So far, so good!

The information that celiacs are at higher risk for infection is...well....ridiculous, unless you are not strict with the diet. After the post is installed, you will be given anti-biotics for a week to avert any problems but the real issue is cleanliness on the dentist's part. If they practice good hygiene in the office, there shouldn't be a problem. I healed really well with no issues but did everything I was supposed to do. Bone meds stay in your system for up to 2 years after taking them so I am not sure how this would impact your implant surgery. I think the issue is that in the future, you could have a failure of the implant if taking these meds. All I can add is that implants are not as bad as they sound....easier than a root canal. If you talk to a doctor, they will tell you the meds are safe. If you talk to a dentist, they will advise not to take them and get into the gym. They see the problems that can result....doctors generally do not. I beleive the dentist!

Good luck with everything and I hope this helps.

[mushroom]

All I know about implants is that you have to be making good quality bone to latch onto the post that they put in and hold it tight. If you can't make good quality bone the implant will likely fail. As I understand it, the bone you make with Fosamax is of a different quality than natural bone. I do not know if it would be strong enough to hold an implant. I had one done six months ago, but I do not have osteoporosis.

[ravenwoodglass]

Can you go with crowns instead? Much less risk if you have osteoporosis. I do have osteoporosis and crowns on a couple of my teeth were not possible so I ended up with a partial instead and eight crowns on the ones that could be crowned.