Adverse Effects Of Antiretroviral Therapy On Oral Tissues In HIV Positive Individuals

Since AIDS was first recognized nearly 20 years ago, remarkable progress has been made in improving the quality and duration of life of HIV-infected persons. There has been extraordinary recent progress in developing therapies against HIV, particularly the highly active antiretroviral therapies (HAART), consisting of combinations of antiretroviral agents such as inhibitors of the HIV reverse transcriptases and proteases. Systemic and orofacial infections and other lesions have thereby been reduced and have extended life substantially. However, antiretroviral regimens are complicated and difficult for patients to follow, and they can have serious side effects, such as osteonecrosis and bone demineralization. This paper summarises some of the oral adverse effects of antiretroviral agents.