MOOKP has been used in Europe before but is less common in the U.S. because of other procedures that are faster and more aesthetically pleasing. MOOKP's main purpose is for special situations such as Sharon Thorton who had Stevens-Johnson syndrome or people who had chemical burns.
Sunday, October 18, 2009
The Tooth Fairy's True Agenda
Do you think the tooth fairy is getting ripped off every time she leaves money for your tooth? It's time to think again because those teeth are worth more than you think. At the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine teeth are being used to restore sight. The doctors use a procedure called modified osteo-odonto-keratoprosthesis or MOOKP. By using a small piece of the inside of someone's cheek and using their actual tooth, doctors can rebuild certain parts of the eye. This procedure is intended for patients who have suffered severe damage to their cornea. The cheek tissue is used to as the mucus tissue around the pupil. Then the tooth with a hole drilled through it is used to hold a prosthetic lens. Other techniques exist to replace damaged corneas; however, this procedure is used if the damage is too severe for other procedures to work. Also MOOKP has the advantage of using a person's own tissue instead of someone else's tissue (normally a dead person's cornea). This eliminates the chance that the immune system will reject the new implant. Sharon Thorton underwent this procedure and has 20/70 vision now. The only initial drawback is the appearance of her eye. However, after her eye has time to heal, she can have a cosmetic eye shield placed on her eye which will hide the cheek tissue and tooth.
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This amazes me how people come up with these type of things. Who would ever think about taking cheek tissue and a tooth to fix someones eye? Do you have any idea of the origin of this procedure? Also, how drastic are the aesthetic issues associated with this procedure? When the procedure is done and an eye shield is used can you even tell?
ReplyDeleteI agree with the previous comment above. It is surprising all the different techniques and technologies used to supply people with sight. I would have never thought of using a tooth to restore someone's sight. But this article brought up some good questions that is true about medical technology and how it affects people's choices. With all the marvelous medical technologies that are out there today, many people still choose to have a certain procedure because it is more aesthetically pleasing than affective. Do you think the aesthetic value of a procedure influences other medical procedures?
ReplyDeleteInterestingly enough MOOKP was first used in 1963 in Italy. I might have created some confusion, but MOOKP is primarily used when someone can't have the other more aesthetically pleasing surgeries. To be honest, I don't know how much the eye shield covers. The article wasn't specific about it at all, and so far I haven't found any actual eye cover that would hide that sort of thing. However, I suspect that it hides most if not all of the surgery. I do think that aesthetic values of procedures affect what surgeries people choose. Of course there is the obvious example of cosmetic surgery, but I think some other surgeries also might be affected by this. However, I don't think most people would sacrifice their eye sight or part of their eye sight for aesthetics.
ReplyDeleteSorry I forgot to post a link to where I found the origins of MOOKP, but here it is:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.neatorama.com/2009/09/17/blind-woman-can-see-again-after-a-tooth-is-implanted-in-her-eye/