Lasting Impressions | Summer 2016

NSU COLLEGE OF DENTAL MEDICINE x 39 CDM’s dental clinic, where he said he was able to find patients for the company-initiated study, which includes materials and treatments that are all FDA approved. For the first study, Koutouzis needed to identify patients from the clinic who had been fitted over the past three years for complete upper dentures, but who still had their lower teeth. He was able to identify patients who had been fitted with complete dentures, but it took investigating to find those that were only missing their top teeth. “There were more than 700 patients from the dental clinic with that criteria,” he said. He was able to narrow it down to 60 who fit the criteria. He then sent letters inviting the patients to participate in the study. “If they were willing to come in and see us, then we took X-rays to see if they were a good fit,” he said. The right “fit,” Koutouzis said, was a patient who would benefit from a shorter implant, someone who didn’t have enough bone dimension for a longer implant and, in that case, would need the bone to be augmented through a graft. Longer implants, as opposed to the shorter implants that Koutouzis is testing, usually require bone graphs. “We need to place implants in a bizarre way to avoid anatomic structures and so forth. These are short implants that don’t require major surgery,” he said. The study was to enlist 20 patients who would commit to the five-year follow up after receiving the implant treat- ment. Koutouzis found them. The procedure using the short implants distributes six implants equally and replaces an entire upper jaw of false teeth. “With this, we don’t do one implant per tooth,” he said. Patients participating in the clinical trial are receiving what Koutouzis said would ordinarily be a cost-restrictive procedure. “The benefit of any clinical trial, and in our case, to cover the implant expenses, is that there is a grant for the study that allows us to do these kinds of treatments at a fraction of the cost.” The company provides for most of the treatment, including the components, and patients only pay a portion of the lab fee. The other portion of the study involves the use of CT scanning software to see how the shorter implants will be placed correctly into the bone prior to beginning the surgery. THE IMPLANT OVER TIME The multiyear study, which is being done at two other research centers besides NSU, will allow Koutouzis to evaluate the procedure’s outcomes. “We’ll watch how the implants are integrating, if bone is being lost over time, and we’ll look at how successful the fixed prosthesis on top of the implants is and how it is holding up.” While shorter implants have been tested before, there have been limited studies on full upper teeth replacement. “This requires different demands when replacing the upper denture,” he said. If the shorter implantation is a success, patients will enjoy not only the aesthetic value of no longer having to wear upper dentures, but also they’ll have their taste buds back. “They can taste food and feel temperatures now that there is no longer a plastic barrier covering their palate.” According to Koutouzis, the biggest benefit of the shorter implant procedure is that it does not require major surgery. “We’re trying to develop a protocol that’s less invasive for patients. With the shorter implants, we can avoid augmenting and grafting procedures,” he explained. “It isn’t necessary to drill massive holes or make big cuts with these implants.” “Young research institutions like NSU allow more opportunity to grow versus those that are estab- lished; because in those type of environments, you really have to fight for your niche.” —Theofilos Koutouzis Continued on next page