Patients' Awareness of the Complications of Bisphosphonate Therapy

INTRODUCTION: Bisphosphonate-associated osteonecrosis of the jaws (BAONJ) is a serious complication that has been reported predominantly in cancer patients treated with Bisphosphonate (BP). The level of knowledge of dental and medical practitioners, as well as patients, is crucial for its prevention. OBJECTIVES: To investigate patients’ awareness of BAONJ in order to evaluate some problems of the prevention, prophylaxis and diagnosis. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A prospective epidemiological study of 112 oncology patients diagnosed with Bisphosphonate-associated osteonecrosis of the jaw was conducted in the Clinic of maxillo-facial surgery of university multiprofile hospital for active treatment (UMHAT) “St. George”, Plovdiv, Bulgaria, based on anamnesis, clinical examination, hospital documentation, and imaging studies. SPSS Statistics v.24 was used for statistical analysis, at a significance level p