oral surgery - implants - Fosamax
I have been on Fosamax for a little over 3 years. I am having 3 implants put in my lower jaw next week & am receiving different advice from doctor, dentist & oral surgeon as to how long I should be off the Fosamax before & after surgery. Please help!!
Hi Becky: Wow this is a tough question. You have 3 different Drs giving you 3 different recommendations? This is always really hard to figure out, especially since you would hope that at least 2 of the recommendations would be similar.
Do any of the 3 opinions coincide with how you feel about it? Aside from getting a 4th opinion, to give you the most best answer, you could read the ADA's recommendations for clinician guidelines on patients recieving oral bisphosphonates preparing for extration or implantation. Here's the link from the ADA (American Dental Association) on this topic. Read through this and see if it helps any. If it doesn't answer your question, you could consult with another oral surgeon and see what they advise.
After reading the above link, the conclusion is that this problem is a low risk, but precautions should still be taken if you have additional problems like periodontitis, infection, or corticosteriod use etc.
If the link doesn't help, then I would call either another oral surgeon or a bone specialist and ask if there is a certain amount of time that you should be off of the medication prior to the procedure.
Good luck with this.
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I'm not a doctor and I don't want to scare you. I have a BIG fear of Fosamax because I have dental issues. I'm really worried about you. What I have read is that going off Fosamax doesn't do much for your risk because it remains in your bones for years after treatment. The good think is that the risk you your jaw is very rare, I think one out of 100,000. Anyway you probably already had your surgery and I hope it went well. I have an implant and so far so good. Take care.
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How does taking Fosamax affect oral surgery?
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Hi Nancy, be sure your oral surgeon knows you been taking Fosamax. Read the links above this post about oral surgery and bisphosphonates. Some oral surgeons have you stop the med first and wait for the surgery. However, only your dentist/surgeon can advise you on this. Just make sure that he or she is aware of the Amer Dental Assoc. guidelines for oral surgery during bisphosphonate use.
Good luck...