Medical Description

Symptoms

General Information

Osteonecrosis of the Jaw, or ONJ, is a rare but recognized side effect of bisphosphonate drugs. Bisphosphonate drugs include Fosamax and the lesser-known cancer drugs Aredia and Zometa which are administered intravenously. ONJ is sometimes known as jawbone necrosis or “dead jaw.”

ONJ is a painful and debilitating condition that involves tissue death and loss of bone in the jaw. It resembles a condition that was known as “phossy jaw” in the 19th and early 20th century that was suffered by industrial workers in match plants who worked with white phosphorus. Chronic exposure to white phosphorus vapor, which was the active ingredient of most matches manufactured between the 1840s through the 1910s, caused a deposition of phosphorus in the jawbone of plant workers.

Injured workers would begin suffering painful toothaches and swelling of the gums, but over time, the jaw bone would begin to abscess, causing painful disfiguration of the face. The jawbone would gradually rot away, and drainage from the dying jawbone tissue was exceedingly foul-smelling. Workers would have to have their jawbones surgically removed or else they would die.

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