according to Akira Taguchi, DDS, PhD, of the department of oral and maxillofacial radiology at Matsumoto Dental University, Nagano, Japan, and associates.
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In a study published in Menopause, the investigators retrospectively analyzed 542 men and women with osteoporosis who participated in the randomized ZONE (Zoledronate Treatment in Efficacy to Osteoporosis) trial. Patients received either zoledronic acid (n = 258) or placebo (n = 284) once yearly for 2 years by IV infusion; mean age was 74 years in both groups. Patients were instructed to maintain good oral health at baseline and every 3 months afterward. Participants with signs or symptoms involving the oral cavity at the follow-up approximately every 3 months were referred to dentists for examination of oral disease.
Oral adverse events were significantly more common in the placebo group, compared with the zoledronic acid group (20% vs. 14%; P = .04); incidence of symptomatic periodontal disease also was significantly more common in those receiving placebo (12% vs. 5%; P = .002). While loss of teeth was more common in the control group than in those receiving zoledronic acid (11% vs. 7%), the difference was not significant.
“Because zoledronic acid can prevent symptomatic periodontal disease when combined with good oral hygiene management, it is possible that the procedures performed in this study could eventually suppress the development of [osteonecrosis of the jaw],” the investigators concluded.
The study was funded by Asahi-Kasei Pharma. The investigators reported employment or receiving consulting fees from numerous pharmaceutical companies.
SOURCE: Taguchi A et al. Menopause. 2019 Aug 19. doi: 10.1097/GME.0000000000001393.