Bisphosphonate (Actonel, Aclasta, Zolandrate) and Denosumab (Prolia) are medicines used to treat osteoporosis in men and women to reduce the risk of fractures, particularly in the hip, long bones and spine.  Treatment makes your bones stronger and less likely to break.  These drugs can be in tablet form or 6 monthly injections.  Your GP will likely refer you to your Dentist for an examination prior to undertaking treatment with any of these drugs.  The reason behind this is that the jaw bones have a better affinity for the drugs than the long bones and this can cause healing of invasive dental procedure sites to be delayed or not occur at all.  

Our most invasive dental procedure is removal of teeth and we need to make sure people are dentally fit prior to going on these drugs.  This is quite a serious side effect and we work closely with the oral surgeons to ensure it is safe to perform an invasive procedure should it be required.  We can have windows of opportunity to perform treatment when the drug is at its lowest count in the body.  We need to be very pro-active in your treatment planning to reduce the risk of tooth extractions.  You will be thoroughly assessed as always for gum disease and your oral hygiene will be a main focus to ensure you have the best preparation for the new medication.  Please discuss any concerns you may have with your Dentist.

We hope July finds you well as we go through July cold mornings.  We have welcomed Dr Michelle Stone back from holidays.  She had a lovely time away, but has found the cold hard to adjust to after 38-degree days.  We will be seeing Hygienist Julie McDonald in the city practice more during July as Kylie takes some time off.  Elle will be away for a week, but all our regular staff will be here to take good care of you. Last month, we took delivery of an exciting new piece of equipment in the form of a scanner.  Dr Michelle Stone unveiled this scanner on our Facebook page if you want to see the video check it out!  https://www.facebook.com/AdelaideCityDentalCare/videos/596600230829770/  It is a method of recording the fine details of the teeth to make digital dentistry a reality.  We would like to say farewell to impressions.  We will be scanning teeth with your permission so we might improve our technique.  It is painless and quite quick, but does take some practice to perfect.

Kind regards.  The Adelaide City Dental Care team

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