## 3 Results
The complete prescribing practices of the respondents are presented in Table 4.  
Current knowledge of the definition of MRONJ was very prevalent in our responders (91%), regardless of specialty, although most prescribers preferred the previous notion of bisphosphonate-related osteonecrosis of the jaw (BRONJ) to MRONJ or antiresorptive drug-related osteonecrosis of the jaw (ARONJ)--70% vs. 17% and 13%, respectively. Most of the physicians surveyed had encountered patients with MRONJ, with an average of 62%, but there were differences related to their fields of practice, with all oncologists having encountered this complication, 60% of endocrinologists and rheumatoidists, and only 36% of general practitioners. Regarding prevention practices, most physicians recommended a dental check-up prior to initiating treatment with bisphosphonates (65%), but not when prescribing denosumab (47%), teriparatide (29%), or tyrosine kinase inhibitors (31%). This recommendation was not influenced by physician specialty regarding bisphosphonates, with no significant differences reported between different specialties (\(p\) = 0.273), or denosumab (\(p\) = 0.347); however, general practitioners were more likely to recommend it to patients when initiating teriparatide (\(p\) = 0.032) or tyrosine kinase inhibitors (\(p\) = 0.015). A summary of recommendations and comparisons between physicians are presented in Table 5. \begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{l c} \hline \hline \multicolumn{1}{c}{**Respondent Characteristics**} & **Number (\%)** \\ \hline Specialty & \\ Endocrinology & 25 (46\%) \\ General practitioner & 11 (20\%) \\ Oncology & 9 (16\%) \\ Rheumatology & 10 (18\%) \\ \hline Professional status & \\ Senior physician & 20 (37\%) \\ Specialist & 24 (43\%) \\ Resident & 11 (20\%) \\ \hline Experience prescribing BMA & \\ \textless{}5 years & 22 (40\%) \\ \textless{}10 years & 14 (25\%) \\ \textless{}10 years & 19 (35\%) \\ \hline \hline \end{tabular}
\end{table} 
Table 3: Survey respondents’ characteristics. Patients who required dental treatment while on BMA therapy were more likely to be recommended temporary withdrawal of the drug only when using bisophosphonates (55%) but not when using any other BMA. This practice varied among different specialties, with general practitioners and oncologists being significantly more likely to apply this preventative measure for patients on bisophosphonates (\(p\) = 0.041) and tyrosine kinase inhibitors (\(p\) < 0.001) and only general practitioners for patients on teriparatide (\(p\) = 0.025). Table 6 presents the results of the survey regarding recommendations for drug withdrawal before dental treatments in patients with MRONJ. \begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{l c} \hline \hline
**Prescribing Practices** & **Number (\%)** \\ \hline Indication for BMA & \\ Osteopenia & 37 (67\%) \\ Osteoporosis & 46 (84\%) \\ Osteogenesis imperfeta & 10 (18\%) \\ Paget\({}^{\dagger}\)s disease & 8 (15\%) \\ Bone metastasis & 11 (20\%) \\ Myeloma & 2 (4\%) \\ \hline Type of BMA prescribed & \\ Oral bisphosphonates & 53 (96\%) \\ Lv. bisphosphonates & 31 (56\%) \\ Denosumab & 23 (42\%) \\ Tyrosine kinase inhibitors & 4 (7\%) \\ PTH & 19 (35\%) \\ Teriparatide & 19 (35\%) \\ Others & 2 (4\%) \\ \hline Specific BMA prescribed & \\ Pamidronate (Aredia®) & 1 (2\%) \\ Risedronate (Actonel®) & 3 (5\%) \\ Ibandronate (Boniviva®) & 32 (58\%) \\ Teriparatide (Forstoe®) & 14 (25\%) \\ Alendronate (Fosamax®) & 44 (80\%) \\ Denosumab (Prolia®) & 16 (2\%) \\ Sunitinib (Sutent®) & 5 (9\%) \\ Zolendronate (Zometa®) & 11 (20\%) \\ Others & 1 (2\%) \\ \hline \hline \end{tabular}
\end{table} 
Table 4: Survey respondents’ prescribing practices.