ABSTRACT
The objective of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of discontinuing high-dose antiresorptive (AR) therapy in reducing the risk of medication-related osteonecrosis of the jaw (MRONJ) in patients treated with AR medications and undergoing dentoalveolar surgery or tooth extractions. The review was carried out in accordance with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) recommendations. A literature search was conducted using the databases MEDLINE, Embase, Web of Science, Scopus, and Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL) from inception till the 1st of April, 2022. Both observational and interventional studies that evaluated the effect of AR drug holiday in the development of MRONJ in patients receiving AR medications and who require dentoalveolar surgical procedures were included. Trials published as abstracts, case reports, case series, non-systematic reviews, and others were excluded. All findings were reported as odds ratios (ORs) and corresponding 95% confidence intervals (CIs). The Newcastle-Ottawa Quality Assessment Scale was used to evaluate the methodological quality assessment, and the Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development, and Evaluations (GRADE) approach was used to evaluate the quality of the evidence. Eight articles (6808 subjects) were included for analysis. Of the participants, 4847 cases (drug holiday group) were compared to 1961 controls (non-drug holiday group). Based on the random effects model, the pooled summary OR was 0.73 (95% CI: 0.51-1.06) for the drug holiday group compared to the non-drug holiday group. In other words, the drug holiday group was not significantly different from the non-drug holiday group in the development of MRONJ following a tooth extraction procedure (p = 0.10). The statistical heterogeneity was low across all studies (I2 = 13%, p = 0.33). Within the limits of the available evidence, our findings revealed that drug holidays with AR will not minimize the risk of MRONJ and thus cannot be advised. It may be possible to arrive at more definitive conclusions from large prospective studies and randomized trials of good quality.
ABSTRACT
Background The purpose of this study was to investigate the distal extension of the palatal rugae area as an anatomical constraint on the harvesting of palatal soft tissue grafts in a Saudi Arabian population. Additionally, factors that could affect or predict the extension were considered. Methods Three hundred seventy-four (374) dental casts from Saudi nationals currently residing in Riyadh (170 males and 204 females) were included. Two independent observers used a standardized probe to measure the posterior extent of the rugae on each stone cast bilaterally on a horizontal base. A sharp graphite pencil was used to mark the measurements from the origin of the rugae to their terminal ends on the cast, and a magnification lens was used to identify them. Using this technique, the most posterior extension of the rugae was marked and then analyzed. The normal approximation test for binomial distribution was used to determine the proportion of the subjects with rugael extensions beyond the mesial end of the upper second premolar, and logistic regression was used to see the association of this extension with other factors. Results The asymptotic chi-squared (p = 0.0002) McNemar tests revealed that the posterior distal extension of the rugae was not the same on both sides. A normal approximation test for the left side with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) with the "rugael extension proximal to the mesial end of the upper second premolar" category considered "success" found that the proportion of upper second premolars with rugael extensions proximal to the mesial end was not significantly different to the proportion of rugael extensions beyond the mesial end of the upper second premolars (95% CI: 48.69%-58.79%, p = 0.147). Conversely, the proportion of the upper second premolars with rugael extensions proximal to the mesial end was significantly lower than that beyond the mesial end on the right (95% CI: 35.92%-45.89%, p = 0.00004). Gender, age, and palatal shape did not significantly affect the posterior extension of palatal rugae. Conclusions The palatal rugae on the left side of a sample of the Saudi Arabian population do not considerably extend beyond the upper second premolar mesial aspect, which may provide reliable soft tissue grafts for esthetic mucogingival surgery.