Future Perspectives of Bisphosphonates in Maxillofacial, Dental and Medical Practices

Today, bisphosphonates are already used in a variety of indications, which by far exceed the commonly known applications. Closely related to their anorganic compound pyrophosphate, organic bisphosphonates are already used in everyday products like toothpastes and reagents for anticalculus and anti-calcification purposes. Besides that, bisphosphonates were successfully applied within experimental, animal, and clinical trial studies for dental socket preservations, periodontitis, and periimplantitis. Thereby, among other positive aspects like distinctive antibacterial profiles, more bone formation and fewer bone resorption were detected. Several other conditions commonly seen in oral and maxillofacial surgery might also benefit from administrations of antiresorptive drugs. In addition, bisphosphonates can also be successfully administered in uranyl intoxications as well as for hard and soft tissue calcifications. The primary aim of the ongoing research in this field can be defined in the detection of the ideal dose-effect relationship of different bisphosphonates when applied intravenously, orally, or topically.