Awareness and practice of dentists in gulf cooperation council countries regarding medication-related osteonecrosis of the jaw - A web-based survey

Mohammad Zakaria Nassani; Bassel Tarakji; Abdulaziz Maree Alqahtani; Faisal Mehsen Alali; Mohammed Noushad; Samer Rastam; Anas B Alsalhani; Mohammed Khalid Alfadel; Abdulaziz Abdullah Alzuabi; Abdulhaleem Muhammad Ateen; Abdullah Bahjat Khojah; Mahmud Uz Zaman; Abdullah Saad Alqahtani; Nasser Raqe Alqhtani; Abdullah Bin Nabhan; Faisal S Alhedyan; Omar Kujan; Sadeq Ali Al-Maweri

doi:10.1016/j.jds.2023.01.018

Awareness and practice of dentists in gulf cooperation council countries regarding medication-related osteonecrosis of the jaw - A web-based survey

J Dent Sci. 2023 Oct;18(4):1677-1684. doi: 10.1016/j.jds.2023.01.018. Epub 2023 Feb 4.

Authors

Mohammad Zakaria Nassani¹, Bassel Tarakji², Abdulaziz Maree Alqahtani³, Faisal Mehsen Alali², Mohammed Noushad¹, Samer Rastam⁴, Anas B Alsalhani^{5

6}, Mohammed Khalid Alfadel⁷, Abdulaziz Abdullah Alzuabi⁷, Abdulhaleem Muhammad Ateen⁷, Abdullah Bahjat Khojah⁷, Mahmud Uz Zaman², Abdullah Saad Alqahtani⁸, Nasser Raqe Alqhtani², Abdullah Bin Nabhan², Faisal S Alhedyan², Omar Kujan⁹, Sadeq Ali Al-Maweri¹⁰

Affiliations

¹ Department of Restorative and Prosthetic Dental Sciences, College of Dentistry, Dar Al Uloom University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
² Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery and Diagnostic Sciences, College of Dentistry, Prince Sattam Bin Abdulaziz University, Al Kharj, Saudi Arabia.
³ General Dental Practitioner, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
⁴ Department of Clinical Sciences, Vision College of Medicine, Vision Colleges, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
⁵ Department of Oral Medicine and Diagnostic Sciences, Vision College of Dentistry and Nursing, Vision Colleges, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
⁶ Department of Histology and Pathology, Faculty of Dentistry, University of Hama, Hama, Syria.
⁷ Dental Student, College of Dentistry, Prince Sattam Bin Abdulaziz University, Al Kharj, Saudi Arabia.
⁸ Department of Preventive Dentistry, College of Dentistry, Prince Sattam Bin Abdulaziz University, Al Kharj, Saudi Arabia.
⁹ UWA Dental School, The University of Western Australia, Perth Western Australia, Australia.
¹⁰ College of Dental Medicine, QU Health, Qatar University, Doha, Qatar.

Abstract

Background/purpose: Medication-related osteonecrosis of the jaw (MRONJ) is a serious complication among dental patients undergoing treatment with antiresorptive medications such as bisphosphonate and denosumab. The present survey investigated the awareness and practice of dentists in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries regarding MRONJ.

Materials and methods: This questionnaire-based study was conducted among dental practitioners in all six GCC countries. A questionnaire was designed and distributed among all potential participants via different social media platforms. SPSS version 22 was used for data analysis, and P-value <0.05 was considered statistically significant.

Results: Overall, 1685 dentists from the six GCC countries participated in the present study. The surveyed dentists revealed relatively fair practices and awareness regarding MRONJ and its prevention, with the majority reported asking their patients about history of anti-osteoporotic medications (67.8%), recording name of the medication (73.1%) and duration of treatment (75.5%). However, the majority of the participants were unconfident about the duration of drug holiday prior to dental surgical interventions (70.6%) and the overall good level of knowledge/practice related to MRONJ was just 50.6%. The regression analysis revealed that previous exposure to MRONJ cases and attending a seminar, course, meeting, or conference about osteonecrosis of the jaw were independent predictors for positive awareness/good practice regarding MRONJ (P < 0.05).

Conclusion: The results show inadequate awareness and practices of dentists practicing in GCC countries regarding MRONJ, with significant variations among the countries. Therefore, appropriate interventions such as periodic continuous education courses are required to improve dentists' knowledge and practices regarding MRONJ.

Keywords: Awareness; Dentists; GCC countries; MRONJ; Osteonecrosis of the jaw; Practice.