Ziyad S. Haidar, PhD; Valerie Joannon Bitsch, BSc; Consuelo Zumarán Castagnoli, BSc; Catalina Paz Sandoval Muñoz, BSc; Sebastián Pérez Errázuriz, DDS, MSc, PhD; Alondra Belén Beniscelli Vásquez, DDS; Gabriela Zavala Vivar, PhD, PostDoc; Maria Ines Gonzalez, PhD, PostDoc; Danilo Segovia Alfaro, BSc; Yasna Palmeiro Silva, Msc
Competition Sponsor: National Agency for Research and Development of Chile
Dental extraction is one of the most performed surgical procedures, globally. Whether due to caries, periodontal disease or trauma, exodontia and the ensuing wound healing and bone remodeling processes of the resultant socket (hole in jawbone) usually result in serious deformities of the residual alveolar osseous ridge and surrounding soft tissues (reduced height/width). Such voluminous changes render the placement of a proper prosthesis, challenging. Further, most extractions continue to be performed with no regard for preventing the on-set of alveolar osteitis (also known as dry socket, a painful and difficult-to-treat/-manage condition post-exodontia). Hence, such serious resorptive morphological changes often result in significant facial deformities and negative impact on over-all Quality of Life of patients; alarming, particularly for the geriatric with compromised healing and in light of the thriving longevity statistics. Despite grafting advances, serious limitations continue to exist, including: safety, efficacy and cost. For cases of dry socket, specifically, the commercially-available remedies are highly-lacking, with most not recommended for use anymore. Alveogyl is a fine example. Hence, there is a great market demand and need for novel alternative solutions. Herein, SockPLUG (patent pending), an all-natural, drug-free and injectable thermo-responsive hydrogel was designed, formulated, characterized and evaluated as an osteogenic, angiogenic, anti-microbial and pain-soothing suture-free intra-alveolar dressing, safe and efficacious for use in fresh extraction sockets, immediately post-exodontia. Findings, from the proposed project, are anticipated to provide sufficient evidence to translate into pilot clinical trials and validate the innovation, before engaging market for feasibility, acceptance and cost-effectiveness studies.