Bulletin of Dental Education Article

Interdisciplinary project on implants, corrosion drives Western University in Ontario research to improve patient outcomes

During the NHL playoffs, attention across the country turns to the arenas of those Canadian teams battling for the Stanley Cup. An unrecognized fact is that the number of Canadians receiving an orthopedic implant, such as an artificial hip or knee, each year would fill the stands of all seven Canadian NHL teams’ arenas. Adding those who receive a dental implant would fill the arenas three times over.

Despite how common orthopedic and dental implants are and how they often fail in similar ways, the orthopedic and dental communities have, until now, operated completely independently. This could mean solutions to improve patient outcomes are being overlooked. 

Western University's Bone and Joint Institute brought together an interdisciplinary team to study implants. From left to right: Brent Lanting, M.D., M.Sc., FRCSC, Schulich Dentistry Professor and Orthopedic Surgeon, Yolanda Hedberg, Ph.D., Western University Chemistry Professor and Les Kalman, B.Sc. (Hon.), D.D.S., Schulich Dentistry Professor and Dentist. (Photo credit: Parshati Patel/Western Research).

“As a corrosion scientist, it seemed obvious to me that orthopedic and dental implants should be studied together,” said Yolanda Hedberg, Ph.D., Canada Research Chair in Corrosion Science and a scientist at the Bone and Joint Institute at Western University in London, Ontario, Canada.  

“Not only are the implant materials similar, but clinicians describe the ways the implants fail by loosening or becoming infected in similar terms. By bringing together different disciplines, we hope to identify patient and implant factors leading to failure and share this with implant manufacturers and care teams, to develop and test new implant technologies and surgical techniques.” 

Western researchers Drs. Les Kalman, Yolanda Hedberg and Brent Lanting form an interdisciplinary team examining implants. (Photo credit: Parshati Patel/Western Research).

Interdisciplinary Approach to Solutions

Since arriving at Western University in 2020, Dr. Hedberg has built a collaboration with Orthopedic Surgeon Brent Lanting, M.D., M.Sc., FRCSC and the Implant Retrieval Laboratory at the London Health Sciences Centre Research Institute (LHSCRI). The lab is led by Matthew TeeterMatthew Teeter, Ph.D.,  Director of Western University’s Bone and Joint Institute and a scientist at LHSCRI.  

When the institute launched its inaugural Grand Challenges competition, in 2024, Dr. Hedberg partnered on a successful application with Les Kalman, B.Sc. (Hon.), D.D.S., a dentist and Professor at the Western University Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry (Schulich Dentistry). The competition aims to explore new perspectives and find unique solutions for big societal problems by connecting experts from different sectors and disciplines. 

Together, Drs. Hedberg and Kalman built an interdisciplinary team with expertise in surgery, biomaterials, medical imaging and infection that expands from Western University and LHSCRI to the University of Ottawa, University of Manitoba, Dartmouth University and Rush University Medical Center. With seed funding and staff support from Western University’s Bone and Joint Institute, the team has the necessary building blocks to investigate the root causes of implant failures and better position themselves to secure large research grants, its members say.  

The goal of the team is to maximize the function and longevity of implants—ultimately improving quality of life for many people. 

The team will track common failures that occur in orthopedic and dental implants, assess standard and unique techniques used in both fields and examine how the corrosion of dental implants affects stability in 3D-printed bone models. With state-of-the-art facilities at their disposal, the team will be able to adjust the natural corrosion process so studies can be completed faster. The information from the studies will lead to the development and testing of new implant technologies and surgical techniques to improve patients’ lives. 

“This is a really exciting opportunity for dentistry to work with orthopedic researchers and bring together the best of both communities.”

– Dr. Les Kalman, Dentist and Schulich Dentistry Professor