New Research Suggests Bisphosphonates Affect Dental Implant Surgery

Japanese researchers suggest the use of bisphosphonates (BP), a group of medicines that help slow or prevent bone loss, is correlated with increased bone mineral density and cortical bone thickness that may lead to dental implant failure in some patients. The study, “Influence of Bisphosphonates on Implant Failure Rates and Characteristics of Postmenopausal Woman Mandibular Jawbone,” was published in the Journal of Oral Implantology.

Researchers from Kanagawa Dental University Hospital and Tokyo Medical and Dental University evaluated bone mineral density and cortical bone thickness of the mandible, as well as how long-term BP therapy affected early implant failure in 25 women age 60 and older with a previous osteoporosis diagnosis who underwent dental implant surgery in the mandible. The subjects were divided into two groups: the BP group consisted of 11 individuals who had been taking BPs for more than 12 months; the non-BP group consisted of 14 patients who had been prescribed a type of hormone therapy. The subjects were compared using computed tomography scans to gauge bone mineral densities, cortical bone thickness, and the effect that the duration of BP therapy had on these factors.

Of the 11 subjects in the BP group with a total of 25 implants, three implants failed in three patients within a year. In the non-BP group, the 14 subjects had a total of 28 implants and every implant survived. Additionally, the BP group had higher bone mineral densities than the non- BP group, and those with a longer duration of BP therapy had increased cortical bone thickness, according to researchers.

From Decisions in Dentistry. April 2018;4(4):10.