In two decades of performing dental implants, Clarion dentist Dr. Jim Rutkowski knows how difficult it is to do the procedure on a patient who doesn’t have enough jaw bone in which to place the implant.
Now his other company, Clarion Research Group, has developed a bone grafting technology that’s being tested in clinical trials. The technique, which Rutkowski learned about while working on a doctorate in pharmacology at Duquesne University, prompts bones to grow faster, essentially by multiplying the number of stem cells and telling them to convert to bone cells. It’s best for a dentist to put the graft in place right after a tooth is extracted, but it can also be placed later on the site of the extraction. The grafting technique cuts down patients’ healing time down to about 12 weeks instead of six months.
While it was originally developed for dental applications, the bone graft is being tested in spinal fusion surgery, in which vertebrae are fused together to treat various back conditions.
Clarion Research is working on the project with Impladent, another company that makes bone grafting products. Rutkowski says that once trials are complete on the bone graft technique, Over the 18 months, Rutkowski hopes to hire 10 employees to manufacture it.
Four of those hires are expected within about six months to make two other bone-growth products Clarion Research has developed. One is a membrane, and the other is a putty-like substance.
Source: Dr. Jim Rutkowski, Clarion Research Group
Writer: Rebecca VanderMeulen