Innovation in dentistry
March 20 is World Oral Health Day. It is an opportunity to remind everyone of the importance of protecting their teeth and, for the University of Montpellier, to take stock of the latest innovations in teaching and care.
Dentistry is a discipline in its own right with a Dental care center close to the school of dentistryIn Montpellier, this specialty is fully committed to training, research, and care, always striving for innovation, cutting-edge approaches, and excellence for its students and patients.
As a public institution, it is one of the only hospital dental centers in the eastern part of the region that treats all types of patients with multiple conditions. Extremely innovative, it is the only regional university hospital center of its kind to provide training in both university and hospital facilities in digital prosthesis with 3D printing devices that enable the design of prostheses for patients in just 3 hours. He is also recognized for his telemedicine project "E-dent," which has received numerous awards and is the most advanced in the field of dentistry worldwide. Finally, students receive cutting-edge initial training with virtual simulators as soon as they enter the faculty.
Dentistry, an innovative hospital and university component
Dentistry began its shift towards digital innovation and robotics years ago. The multidisciplinary team at the dental care center has a complete digital prosthetic rehabilitation unit. This involves acquiring images by optical scanning rather than using impressions, in order to design a fixed prosthesis that will fit into the patient's mouth with millimeter precision in less than three hours.
A medical unit, unique in France, has been set up, incorporating state-of-the-art digital machines for these innovative treatments. The team that makes up this unit is the most advanced in France in terms of expertise and research and development in digital prosthetics. It is also a reference point for many industrial partners in this field for evaluating their latest advances, thanks to the tireless daily efforts of the teams.
The team is led by two professors of prosthetics, Prof. Jacques MARGERIT and Prof. Sylvie MONTAL, supported by the service coordinator, Prof. Jean VALCARCEL, and is under the responsibility of Dr. Michel FAGES and Dr. Jean-Cédric DURAND.
This dynamic begins with a dedicated university diploma and a unique digital platform: "Lyra." It brings together a multitude of machines and digital technologies in a single location to provide the most advanced training possible for students and practitioners. It is led by the Dean, Prof. Philippe Gibert, who is steering theUFR Odontologie toward the dentistry of the future.
A center of excellence in telemedicine
Dental telemedicine in Montpellier benefits from advanced expertise. The E-dent project led by Dr. Nicolas Giraudeau (e-health award, États généraux de l’innovation organisationnelle en santé) is the most advanced teledentistry project in the worldIt is set to spearhead remote tele-expertise between the healthcare center and the private sector. More and more hospital departments are using it, including the UCSA and patients detained in the Villeneuve les Maguelone unit.
The teams of dentists involved in clinical research have enabled the care center to become a reference unit for rare oral and dental diseases, known as "O-Rares," under the leadership of Prof. Frédéric Cuisinier and Dr. Pierre-Yves Collard Dutilleul.
Other teams, led by Prof. Dominique Deville de Périère and Prof. Christophe Hirtz, are working in synergy within Prof. Sylvain Lehmann's proteomics platform to develop new saliva-based diagnostic tools useful in general health, with results that currently make it an expert team in this field at the international level.
Cutting-edge initial training with... virtual simulators!
In 2017, funding was provided to renovate two practical training rooms for the training of future surgeons. In September 2018, two haptic simulators—the first in France—will be inaugurated. The Montpellier Faculty of Dentistry will thus enter the era of "virtual" teaching, allowing students to perform all therapeutic treatments and experience the sensations and reactions of patients before actually operating on them.
A public service mission
For years, dental teams have been involved in innovative consultations and care for the oral health of populations requiring special care: patients with disabilities or hospitalized patients with multiple pathologies. In these cases, oral health contributes to the diagnosis and prognosis of their general health. The medical periodontology consultation initiated and led by Dr. Orti and Dr. Mertens welcomes patients from the metabolic medicine, cardiology, gynecology-obstetrics, and rheumatology departments who have periodontal disease that interferes with their general pathology.
Equally specialized consultations at the care center, in both pediatric dentistry and maxillofacial surgery, welcome hospitalized patients requiring specific approaches in cardiology, oncology, or pediatrics.
The team working daily atthe UCAA (Outpatient Surgery and Anesthesia Unit) provides care that is unique in France, seven days a week, to numerous patients with specific needs for comprehensive oral rehabilitation, without compromising on quality or durability. It is one of the only establishments in France to provide this type of care.
" All these dynamics and innovations are little-known assets, patiently put in place through the daily work of the PUPH, MCUPH managers and staff, regardless of their status. They are all committed to our three missions of teaching, care and research, each with their own subspecialties and specificities. For all of them, it is a daily commitment to ensure the best possible training for students and the best public oral health service for our fellow citizens of all ages and medical conditions, which must be a strength that both the university hospital and the university are aware of and can count on! " conclude Professors Philippe Gibert and Jean Valcarcel.