{"id":1186,"date":"2013-06-21T15:50:13","date_gmt":"2013-06-21T15:50:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.mikemalonedds.com\/blog1\/?p=1186"},"modified":"2019-08-08T16:10:40","modified_gmt":"2019-08-08T16:10:40","slug":"teeth-help-restore-vision-for-the-blind","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.camelliadds.com\/blog1\/teeth-help-restore-vision-for-the-blind\/","title":{"rendered":"Teeth Help Restore Vision for the Blind"},"content":{"rendered":"

As bizarre as it sounds, it\u2019s happening.\u00a0 There is such a procedure called \u2018tooth in eye surgery\u2019 or more scientifically \u2018oste-odonto-keratoprosthesis<\/a>\u2019 in which doctors use a patient\u2019s tooth to restore their vision.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The procedure originates back to Rome in the 1960s with an Italian ophthalmic surgeon named Benedetto Strampelli. \u00a0 In 2009,<\/a> doctors at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine were the first to restore a blind person\u2019s eyesight using the tooth-in-eye procedure.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The patient was Sharron \u201cKay\u201d Thornton.\u00a0 She went blind nine years previous when diagnosed with the disorder Stevens-Johnson syndrome.\u00a0 Now, keep in mind there are varying degrees of blindness.\u00a0 The surface of Ms. Thornton\u2019s eyes were scarred to the point where she was \u2018legally blind\u2019 meaning she could still see to some extent, but her eyes were not fully functioning.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Because the surface was damaged, there was no wetness or tears in Thornton\u2019s eyes. \u00a0Dr. Victor L. Perez, an ophthalmologist who operated on Thornton said of the new surgery<\/a>, \u201cSo we kind of recreate the environment of the mouth in the eye.\u201d\u00a0 Here is how the procedure works step-by-step:<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

    \n
  1. A dentist removes a tooth from the patient or donor.\u00a0 It must be a living tooth used as an implant, as the eye might reject a plastic equivalent.<\/li>\n
  2. A sample of dental tissue (a patch of skin from inside of the cheek<\/a>) is \u201cplaced in the eye for two months, where it gradually acquires its own blood supply.\u201d\u00a0 This tissue would become the soft area around the eyeball.<\/li>\n
  3. The modified tooth is implanted into the eye socket with a hole drilled through the center to hold the man-made prosthetic lens.<\/li>\n
  4. I\u2019ll spare you the rest of the gory details and skip to the last step in which surgeons cut a hole in the grafted cornea to allow light through.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

     <\/p>\n

    Surgeons particularly stress the use of the patient\u2019s own tooth and cheek tissue in the procedure, as there is less of a chance of the immune system reacting negatively to the transplant.\u00a0 After her procedure, Thornton was able to see 20\/70 right away and went about daily activities except for driving a vehicle.<\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

    Though the surgery was successful\u00a0otherwise, most specialists predict tooth-in-eye-surgery will not catch on in the United States.\u00a0 Though hundreds of patients have undergone the surgery in Japan and England, surgeons in the US still prefer a technique called Boston Keratoprosthesis<\/a> which is similar \u201cbut uses a prosthetic cornea instead of one grown from dental tissue and does not require cheek tissue to surround the implant.\u201d<\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

    The result is a more natural-looking eye, compared to Ms. Thornton\u2019s.\u00a0 One drawback to the tooth-in-eye surgery Thornton experienced was that nothing covered the cheek tissue on the eye, which causes the eye to look different and abnormal — a concern of the patient when out in public.<\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

    Looking at the photos of patients post-surgery, I\u2019m not surprised tooth-in-eye-surgery hasn’t caught on in the states…<\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

    \"\"<\/a>Dr. Mike Malone<\/a>\u00a0and his\u00a0team<\/a>\u00a0practice expert cosmetic dentistry in Lafayette, LA. Dr. Malone is the former president and current accredited member of the\u00a0American Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry<\/a>. He\u00a0is also the official Cosmetic Dentist of the Miss Louisiana USA and Miss Louisiana Teen USA pageants. Check out his\u00a0website<\/a>\u00a0for more information.<\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

    <\/div>\n

     <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    As bizarre as it sounds, it\u2019s happening.\u00a0 There is such a procedure called \u2018tooth in eye surgery\u2019 or more scientifically \u2018oste-odonto-keratoprosthesis\u2019 in which doctors use a patient\u2019s tooth to restore  Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":130,"featured_media":1195,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","twitterCardType":"","cardImageID":0,"cardImage":"","cardTitle":"","cardDesc":"","cardImageAlt":"","cardPlayer":"","cardPlayerWidth":0,"cardPlayerHeight":0,"cardPlayerStream":"","cardPlayerCodec":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[363],"tags":[366,369,26,370,69,368,365,371,364,367],"class_list":{"0":"post-1186","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-health-lifestyle","8":"tag-blindness","9":"tag-cornea","10":"tag-dr-mike-malone","11":"tag-eyesight","12":"tag-health","13":"tag-opthamologist","14":"tag-oste-odonto-keratoprosthesis","15":"tag-surgery","16":"tag-tooth-in-eye-surgery","17":"tag-vision","18":"entry"},"yoast_head":"\nTeeth Help Restore Vision for the Blind - 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