[Oradlist] mail survey

[Allan G Farman]

Scientific studies have indicated that low doses of orally administered bisphosphonates are unlikely to be associated with untoward effects, and that the majority of cases of "bisphosphonate" osteonecrosis tend to be in folk receiving high doses as part of th regimen of chemotherapy for cancer. However osteonecrosis can occur in the absence of any bisphosphonate history so it obviously can occur on rare occasion in folk who take low doses for osteoporosis prevention just as a coincidence. Such incidences can then be misinterpreted unscientifically as "proof that the scientists have it all wrong."

In the presence of controversy what is a practitioner to do? Often the safe bet is not to be involved in a situation that can lead to prosecution for malpractice even when the scientific evidence is on your side... so dentists might not follow guidelines issued by the American Dental Association and simply refuse to treat or refer such patients.

I am unaware of any national surveys that have assessed the knowledge of US dentists on the topic of bisphosphonates, or measured the present trends in treatment.

AGF


Allan G. Farman, BDS, PhD, MBA, DSc, Diplomate ABOMR

Prof. Radiology & Imaging Science
Univ. Louisville School of Dentistry: SUHD
501 South Preston Street,
Louisville, Kentucky 40292, USA 

Tel: +1(502) 852.1241
Fax: +1(502)852.1626


>>> Akira Taguchi <akiratag at nifty.com> 05/01/2009 10:03 PM >>>
Dear oradlist members,

Please let me know how the dentists in your country deal with the  
patients who receive the bisphosphonate (BS) for osteoporosis  
treatments.
Recently, there are some rumor damage about this issue in Japan.
I mean many Japanese dentists tend to refuse dental treatment in  
patients who receive BS for osteoporosis treatment.
How about your country?
It is very important for me (or for us) to know the trend worldwide  
because triaging screening for osteoporosis in dental clinics may not   
be meaningful if this trend is common over the world.

Thank you so much in advance.

Best wishes,

Akira Taguchi

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Akira Taguchi, DDS, PhD
Chair and Professor
Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Radiology
School of Dentistry
Professor
Department of Hard Tissue Research
Graduate School of Oral Medicine
Matsumoto Dental University
1780 Gobara, Hirooka, Shiojiri 399-0781 JAPAN
TEL: 81263512095
FAX: 81263512096
E-mail: akiratag at nifty.com 
              akiro at po.mdu.ac.jp 
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