TY - JOUR T1 - Bisphosphonate Related Osteonecrosis of the Jaws JF - The Journal of Rheumatology JO - J Rheumatol SP - 450 LP - 450 DO - 10.3899/jrheum.080444 VL - 36 IS - 2 AU - EUGENE FUNG Y1 - 2009/02/01 UR - http://www.jrheum.org/content/36/2/450.2.abstract N2 - As a rheumatologist who has seen and managed bisphosphonate related osteonecrosis of the jaws (Fung E, Medwatch case reports; Harper and Fung1), I wish to comment and raise questions on the recent editorial by Kahn2 and article by Etminan, et al3. Osteonecrosis of jaws (ONJ) might be old, dating back a century in the form of “phossy jaw”; but bisphosphonate related ONJ is rather new, first reported in 20034. By the current, mostly accepted, definition, it is certainly not equal to osteoradionecrosis and we should not confuse the 2 conditions. The incidence of bisphosphonate related ONJ in oral therapy was estimated as 0.7 or < 1 per 100,000 patient-years5; it is not the < … Address reprint requests to Dr. Fung; E-mail: eugenefung{at}pol.net ER -