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Case reports of osteonecrosis of the jaw (ONJ) in bisphosphonate (BP) users first appeared in the dental literature in 2003. However, the true incidence and cause of ONJ in users of oral bisphosphonates remain unclear, and two new studies address these issues.
In the first study, Cartsos and colleagues studied medical claims data from more than 714,000 people with osteoporosis or cancer to delineate (based on diagnostic or procedural codes) which individuals might have had ONJ. Among patients who were BP-naive, the claims frequency of inflammatory conditions of the jaw was the same whether the patient did or did not have cancer. Patients with osteoporosis; multiple myeloma; or cancer of the lung, breast, or prostate who received intravenous …