For decades, the American Heart Association (AHA) recommended that patients with certain heart conditions take antibiotics shortly before dental treatment. This was done with the belief that antibiotics would prevent infective endocarditis (IE), previously referred to as bacterial endocarditis. IE is an infection of the heart’s inner lining or valves, which results when bacteria enter the bloodstream and travel to the heart. Bacteria are normally found on the skin and in the mouth.

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If you use a bisphosphonate medication—to prevent or treat osteoporosis (a thinning of the bones) or as part of cancer treatment therapy—you should advise your dentist. In fact, any time your health history or medications change, you should make sure the dental office has the most recent information in your patient file. Here's why:

Some bisphosphonate medications (such as Fosamax, Actonel, Boniva) are taken orally (swallowed) to help prevent or treat osteoporosis and Paget's disease of the bone. Others, such as Aredia, Bonefos, Didronel or Zometa, are administered intravenously (injected into a vein) as part of cancer therapy to reduce bone pain and hypercalcemia of malignancy (abnormally high calcium levels in the blood), associated with metastatic breast cancer, prostate cancer and multiple myeloma.

In rare instances, some individuals receiving intravenous bisphosphonates for cancer treatment have developed osteonecrosis (pronounced OSS-tee-oh-ne-KRO-sis) of the jaw, a rare but serious condition that involves severe loss, or destruction, of the jawbone.

A-Z Topic: Osteonecrosis of the Jaw