Irvine-based Pacific Dental Services, best known for providing back-office services to dental offices, is investing in what may be the first synthetic bone adhesive.
Lowell, Mass.-based RevBio Inc. announced Feb. 14 that it has received a strategic investment from Pacific Dental to support the clinical development of its bone adhesive biomaterial for implant dentistry. The amount of the investment was undisclosed.
RevBio is a clinical stage medical device company developing a patented, synthetic, injectable, self-setting, and osteoconductive bone adhesive biomaterial it calls Tetranite.
Described as “bone glue,” the product is designed to hold bones together and help them regenerate.
“When we saw this product demonstrated, we had never seen anything like it,” Daniel Burke, Pacific Dental’s chief strategy officer, told the Business Journal. “We showed it to some of our dentists who are leaders in technology. Unanimously, they were very excited about this bone glue.”
The company is initially developing this technology for use in the dental, cranial, and broader orthopedic markets as well as the animal health market.
“Most dental implants cannot be placed immediately after a tooth is removed due to accident, tooth decay, or gum disease,” RevBio said.
“Instead, the current standard of care consists of multiple surgical and follow-up office visits to restore a patient’s dentition with dental implant supported prosthetic crowns.”
About 2.1 million implants are placed per year in the U.S. into initially unstable tooth extraction sites that the company says could benefit from the use of its products..
Currently, there are no products approved in Europe or the United States that are adhesive to bone and capable of bonding dental implants into place while gradually resorbing and being replaced by new, native bone.
“It saves surgeons a remarkable amount of time,” Burke said. “It can be used immediately in the mouth. It’s easy to use. It’s injectable, self-setting. It saves the patients weeks to getting final implants. It encourages bone growth.”
Clinical Study
Begun in 1994 by Stephen Thorne, Pacific Dental has become one of the largest dental support organizations in the U.S. with over 900 dental practices in 25 states and generating more than $2 billion annually.
It’s known for providing software to manage dental offices and for encouraging dentists to work alongside general practitioners improve the overall health of patients.
Pacific Dental is a recent investor in medical products.
“We’re seeing a lot of technology and devices that would greatly benefit our dentists,” Burke said.
“When we decide to invest, the companies are excited to have us because we’re not a venture capital firm, but a potential customer.”
RevBio has received approval to start a 15-patient pilot clinical trial in Italy. If all goes well, the product may be available in two to four years for humans and sooner for the veterinarian market, Burke said.
