By Mariam Nihal
More and more doctors are becoming a part of the movement. Most celebrity doctors showcase their surgeries daily on Snapchat and other social media outlets. These are largely related to aesthetic surgery contributing to the growing interest of patients who are lately going for small and ‘quick fix’ procedures.
We got in touch with Dr. Alexandru Karkhi, based in Romania who will be showcasing live tomorrow. He is the first doctor to perform a worldwide live stream surgery for a dental implant placement. Tomorrow’s surgery is about dental implants. But, unlike the traditional type, he will demonstrate a modern technique that is called ‘Minimal Invasive Surgery’ and this defines the concept of ‘Teeth in one day’.
We spoke to Dr. Karkhi in an exclusive interview. Implant Compare founders from the USA and Dr. Mohammad Alaradi from Bahrain Dental Awareness will also be a part of the live event. “Our surgery could take up to one hour, and keep in mind we will be placing three dental implants. With crowns,” Dr.Karkhi told Saudi Gazette.
Log onto http://implantcompare.com to tune in live.
If you are an iPhone user, you can download the Implant Compare iPhone app so you can watch live surgeries directly on your phone.
Introduction
Dr. Alexandru Karkhi is Certified in Oral Implant Surgery, Invisalign, Cosmetic Dentistry, Facial Dermal Fillers, BioRevolumetry and Non-surgical facial Aesthetics.
In 2016 I started a collaboration with the ‘Implant Compare’ platform from USA and became part of the team as a contributor doctor. In August I became the first doctor to perform a worldwide live stream surgery for a dental implant placement. And a few months later I also performed the first live stream socket preservation with an ‘open healing’ technique bringing more knowledge and awareness of the techniques to the fellow doctors and practitioners of Dental Medicine worldwide.
2016 was the year of discipline for me as I started to develop myself as a doctor, I started to include Non-Surgical Facial Aesthetics and Anti-Aging Medicine procedures as part of my work, by becoming a member of the Romanian Anti-Aging Society.
Live surgery today
I am hosting my first worldwide live stream surgery for multiple dental implants placements using state of the art computerised technology. I will be together with the Implant Compare founders, who are flying in from USA to be part of this great event. And also with my good friend Dr. Mohammad Alaradi from Bahrain Dental Awareness.
We will be in my office, Healthsnap Dental Clinic in Bucharest. We are planning to go live at 4 pm GMT+2 tomorrow.
The procedure and guide
It is for the posterior teeth – the lower molars. This is called a functional area. Because this is where the chewing takes place. So this is more of a rehabilitation case, to help the patient to regain the missing teeth in order to be able to chew like a normal healthy adult. From my experience I can say that 70% of the implant cases that I have refer to implants placed in the area of our first molar (the first permanent tooth that erupts at age 6). It is definitely the tooth with the highest risk of damage.
Now, when I talk to my patients before any kind of surgery, I always explain to them each step of the way so that they can completely relax and understand my choices for their treatment plan and to be fully aware of the advantages of getting things back to healthy and normal.
The concept of introducing digital technology into our implant surgery is a must, and I will help you understand why.
First and foremost, taking into consideration the classic technique of an implant placement, it requires the doctor to perform a gingival flap to uncover the alveolar bone, so that the implant placement takes place at the bone level. Then after the implant insertion, the gingiva is sutured and the implant is left to bio integrate and to obtain secondary stability over the next three months minimum. After the healing and osseointegration period, the implant is uncovered and a porcelain or zirconia crown can be placed on the implant. In this period, usually, the patient has a gap between his teeth.
The modern technique is based on using a surgical guide. This guide is obtained by planning in advance. In this case using a CBCT scan and a 3D Viewer computer program. And of course a 3D printer, to print the guide. Working with an experienced dental technician and with the 3D Viewing program the doctor can have all the information necessary about the bone level, volume and density and can easily create a digital mock-up of the implant position, length, angulation.
The dental technician can also produce this before the surgery, with temporary screwed-in crowns, so that the doctor can offer teeth on implants as a temporary solution for aesthetic and functional reasons, right after the implant placement in the same day.
The surgical guide will provide the doctor the precision that he requires when placing a dental implant, so that the doctor can have maximum predictability for the case. This is very important in immediate loadings- placing crowns over implants right after implant placement before the healing period.
The benefits
Now, for the patient, the use of surgical guides translates a little bit different. It’s a little more expensive, but, there is no use of scalpel, and this means no sutures, no oedema, no bruising. No swelling, very little trauma, a slight discomfort, very little bleeding, teeth right after surgery, no social downtime, less visits to the doctor. Usually the patients need to be reminded that they went through a surgery because it is minimally invasive.
Live surgery is broadcasted into everyone’s home by an app. But it all started on Instagram.
It started on instagram. @implantcompare page was already hosting doctors to lecture on different techniques and approaches for dental surgeries. I could see for the very first time in medicine how easy it is now for important information to be shared with doctors and medical practitioners worldwide. So I immediately wrote to them to congratulate them and it all went from there. So it all started from social media.
The growing trend of live surgery and its implications for doctors.
To be completely honest, I love it! Basically because I want to promote my work and to grow dental awareness worldwide. For my doctor colleagues I’m sure they enjoy my posts, but for the non medical viewers I think this is a good tool to convince them to come to the dentist more often, because I can show them images in my posts of what can happen otherwise. Seeing pictures of white and bright teeth just isn’t enough anymore. And mainly because dentistry is more than that. I am just a piece of the puzzle, but I want to do my job and to provide my patients with the best treatment plans possible. I am very often contacted by new patients claiming they saw me on social media and want to come and become my patients.
Future plans and surgery dates
I will be in Bahrain next year in March as a speaker and I am planning on a ‘wonder course’ for dentists. I am working close with my friends from BDA Bahrain to organise something unprecedented. You can follow me on social media – @dralexkarkhi to be up to date with my latest news and treatments. I can promise it will worth your time!
