A groundbreaking surgery has brought hope to a blind Canadian man, Brent Chapman, who may soon regain his sight through an innovative procedure involving his own tooth. In one of Canada’s first "tooth in eye" surgeries, Chapman underwent a rare operation known as osteo-odonto keratoprosthesis (OOKP) at Mount Saint Joseph Hospital in Vancouver.
OOKP, a procedure that has been successfully restoring sight in other parts of the world for decades, utilizes a patient’s tooth to create a support structure for an artificial cornea. The surgery is divided into two stages. Initially, Dr. Greg Moloney and his team extracted one of Chapman’s teeth, reshaped it into a rectangle, inserted a plastic optical lens, and temporarily placed it in his cheek for about three months to develop supporting tissue.
Simultaneously, the eye was prepared by replacing the top layer of the eye’s surface with a soft tissue graft from Chapman’s cheek, requiring time to heal and support the implant. The upcoming second surgery will involve relocating the tooth from Chapman’s cheek to his eyeball, where it will be secured with the new optical lens, allowing him to potentially regain his vision through a small hole in the eye.
Despite the unconventional nature of using a tooth for eye surgery, teeth are ideal for housing a plastic lens due to their dentin content, which reduces the risk of rejection by the body. The cheek tissue readily accepts the tooth, facilitating a smoother process. However, the surgery carries risks, including the possibility of infection and vision loss. It is typically reserved for individuals with corneal blindness caused by specific conditions, such as autoimmune diseases or chemical burns, who still have healthy retinas and optic nerves.
Chapman, a 33-year-old massage therapist from North Vancouver, has endured 50 surgeries in the past two decades to restore his sight, which was lost due to Stevens-Johnson syndrome triggered by medication he took as a teenager. Despite temporary partial sight from previous procedures, Chapman’s vision always faded, leading to emotional challenges. Now, with the tooth in eye surgery, he hopes for a lasting solution to his blindness, inspired by the success stories of others who have undergone the same procedure and regained their sight.
Chapman is part of a pilot program at Mount Saint Joseph Hospital, with plans to establish Canada’s first OOKP clinic pending successful outcomes. Dr. Moloney and his team aim to secure funding from Health Canada to establish the country’s sole active North American center for this transformative operation. If successful, this initiative could potentially offer hope to many others grappling with similar vision challenges.