Osteonecrosis of the jaw treatment?

[Rottney]

I was "blindsided" by ONJ... don't think my urologist or oncologist or dentist had seen a case. Stage 4 PCa has been treated with Lupron/Xgeva/Casodex for ~2 years when I began having problems with rear molar. Went forward with root canal, which eased pain, but not completely. Had to have root canal repeated, which just aggravated ONJ. Finally did some research on my own and convinced my dentist to refer me to an oral surgeon. Stopped taking Xgeva and the ONJ seemed to be healing but recently flared up again. Question for the group.... does ONJ go away in time and/or is there any treatment for it?

[NPfisherman]

See the MSK site for patients....

mskcc.org/cancer-care/patie...

Sorry to hear about it...Good luck...

Dave

[Mkeman in reply to NPfisherman]

Great site...anyone considering Zometa or other bone drugs should read...

[monte1111 in reply to NPfisherman]

Thanks for link. Network dentist wanted me to go to oral surgeon and have tooth pulled. Went to my old dentist and paid cash for second opinion. That was 6 months ago. Still have the tooth.

[NPfisherman in reply to monte1111]

Always glad to help out... so early into this and learning as fast as I can....still so much to learn...threw out supplements and replaced them with new ones....diet changes...and more....If my MO knew how many questions I will have for him in January, he would probably take an extra week off...ROFL... Happy holidays, monte...

[likelylost]

My husband was diagnosed with ONJ in the past year. The sequence was similar to yours...rear lower molar...root canal...extraction and then failure to heal with exposed jawbone. He had surgery last week to remove the dead bone and close the wound. Fortunately, there was enough good bone remaining that he did not need a bone graft. We are crossing our fingers that everything heals. He has not had a shot of Xgeva in over a year.

[Twoofus]

I’m most interested in any and all responses you receive to your post.

Right now I’m in bed, taking pain medicine as much as I dare, thinking some MM may help, and dozing off and on. I had the implant poles put into my jaw this morning. I never dreamed I would take this side road. Not sure what I will do if more teeth decide to play this game.

I appreciate your message about my early onset pain and fatigue. I sent a response but not sure it went through. Let me know.

[Rottney in reply to Twoofus]

ONJ is apparently pretty rare. You should be able to read the other replies to my post. There is one case reported (likelylost) that sounds similar. He discontinued Xgeva ~1yr ago but had to have oral surgery to remove dead bone. I’ll find out about mine next week when I see oral surgeon for 2nd appt. Pain in my jaw has mostly subsided, but still have some exposed bone. No Xgeva now for over 6 months

[Rottney in reply to Twoofus]

Here is a good link that NPFisherman provided. Good source for ONJ. healthunlocked.com/api/redi...