Dental News - Saudi dentists receive U.S. patent for novel soft tissue augmentation tech

Daniel Zimmermann, DTI

Wed. 7 March 2012

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ALEXANDRIA, Va., USA: An invention from Saudi Arabia that could help more patients to get dental implants is reported to have been granted patent status by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. The method, called the tunnelling technique, is claimed to increase the thickness of soft tissue before block grafting procedures using an acellular dermal matrix.

Developed by implant specialist Dr Ali Thafeed Al-Ghamdi, who is also head of the Periodontic Division at King Abdulaziz University’s Faculty of Dentistry in Jeddah in Saudi Arabia, the technique was first filed for patent application in February last year by a Virginia law firm.

In the paper, the researchers explain how to position an acellular dermal matrix over the recipient site and fix it coronally via a tunnel that is formed by making two incisions through the mucosa. Using this method, the researchers detected an increase of 1 to 2 mm in soft-tissue thickness following allografts.

The acellular dermal matrix has been successfully applied in many surgical fields, including cosmetic procedures and regenerative medicine. It has been on the market since the early 1990s.

Al-Ghamdi told the Saudi Press Agency in Riyadh that he started looking into the technique when he noticed rapid healing in dental implant patients who had been treated with allografts for soft-tissue augmentation prior to symphysial block grafts. He said that his invention could contribute significantly to the improvement of block graft surgery in diseased jaws.

According to the latest research, thin soft-tissue biotypes affect implant success significantly by failing to maintain the required crestal bone level.

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