Hi Pam, I have been sent to a dental specialist due to the jaw pain which has now been definitively diagnosed as a break in the lower portion of the root of a tooth of an old root canal and crown causing massive infection.
The pain and infection will get worse and I am told there is no way to fix it other than tooth extraction or another invasive jawbone surgery which will save the tooth-"apicoectomy" -they remove a flap of the lower gum, remove the lower bone around the tooth and put a filling at the site where it broke and restitch the gum.
I took Actonal for only 11 mos but even that short time increases my risk for the jawbone not healing well after dental surgery. Thank heavens I hadn’t taken it for the full 5 yrs it usually is recomended for. Even though I’ve stopped this drug it has a half life of over 10 yrs in the bones and will continue to exert an influence on the jaw and on the rest of my bones.
I always looked after my teeth and saw a dentist several times a year.This is to let others know that even if your teeth are healthy when you start these drugs [all bisphosphates] things can happen further down the line.How many people realize their crowns and root canals do not last forever?
Unless you have dentures or no teeth think twice about taking these drugs especially if you are youngish [50’s] because of their long term effects on the jaw which makes any future dental surgery a risk.
I will have to risk the surgery and hope I don’t develop jaw necrosis as a result of the surgery.
My family doctor is now calling the manufacturers of this drug to get recomendations on how to best proceed with this.When the pain first started my regular dentist thought it was related to Actonel and changes in the jaw related to that.
Please spread the word to all your friends and family so others will realize the risks they are taking. If you never need future dental surgery – fine but who can predict the future? I will be this specialist’s first patient he is doing surgery on that has taken these drugs.My family doctor tells me I am the first of his patients taking these drugs to need invasive dental surgery.
As Clint Eastwood said in one of his movies "Do you feel lucky?"
I had another letter this week from a 60 year old woman who took Fosomax for 1 1/2 years and has spent the summer with her jaw wired shut and her lower teeth out. This is no longer rare and both of these events were after a pretty short time on the drug. Why aren’t doctors wising up about this. Through someone I know in a dentistry organization who is getting the word out to dentists, they are getting up to speed on this problem. But doctors still have their heads in the sand.
Blessings to both of these women.