blindness curing with teeth AN AUSTRALIAN FIRST Dr Shannon Webber, Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeon In a remarkable first for the Australian medical industry, Pindara Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeon Dr Shannon Webber restored the eyesight of patients using a tooth transplant inserted into the eye. he story is certainly making waves nationally, and with good reason. Two patients, who have collectively spent 50 years without sight, have been able to see their families again in an extraordinary procedure that was first performed in Europe, and modified by Dr Webber and Ophthalmologist Dr Greg Moloney at the Sydney Eye Hospital just recently. T The operation involved taking tissue from the mouth, as well as a tooth with an “optic” glued into it, and sewing it into the front of the eye, creating a new cornea (surface of the eye) that allows light to enter the eye and restore sight. “After completing the procedure for the first two patients in Sydney, they both have extremely good vision with minimal scarring,” said Dr Webber. “You wouldn’t know they had surgery aside from a slightly pink-coloured surface to the eye. It’s amazing to think that days after we completed the surgery, both patients had excellent vision after being blind for decades.” “With the aid of some glasses, both were reading the newspaper with no assistance, which is simply astonishing,” he said. Called Osteo-odonto-keratoprosthesis (OOKP), this procedure was first developed by Italian doctor Benedetto Strampelli in the 1960s with the aim to restore the vision of those who were blind due to scarring of the cornea most commonly from a burn, autoimmune disease or splash injury. “The rest of the eye needs to be functioning normally and essentially the operation changes up ‘the windscreen’ or surface of the eye,” said Dr Webber. pindaramagazine.com.au Pindara Magazine 29
Pindara Private Hospital Magazine - Issue Ten
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