BIO-SCAFFOLD International (BSI), a homegrown biotechnology firm, obtained another important certification earlier this month for its newest product: Alvelac, a bio-scaffold which allows a tooth socket to retain its structure after a dental extraction, supporting the bone as it heals naturally.
The company was awarded the CE Mark for meeting European Union consumer health requirements, after it earlier won certification from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the US.
The product is based on technology jointly owned by A*Star and BSI.
According to Margam Chandrasekaran, chief scientist at BIS, the CE Mark serves as an important launch pad to expand the company's footprint into European countries and markets that accept EU regulations.
Alvelac works by maintaining space in the socket of a newly extracted tooth, providing a framework for natural bone healing without the loss of bone width and height that results from lack of socket preservation. A significant loss of bone not only compromises aesthetics, but also damages the prospects of future crowns, dentures or implants.
By mimicking the tooth's properties, Alvelac avoids the problems of immuno-rejection and high cost - issues which are common to alternative methods of socket preservation such as packing the socket with granular material made from bovine bone.
Alvelac has in clinical trials proven to provide better support to the socket walls, resorbing naturally within 2-6 months.
BSI has already begun a soft launch of Alvelac for dental clinics in Singapore, and plans to integrate the relatively uncommon concept of socket preservation in Asia through collaborations with institutes of education.
Registration for the product is also ongoing in India and Taiwan, and BSI expects that Alvelac's FDA approval and CE Mark will expedite the process.
BSI has been using online social media like Facebook and Twitter to get the word out about Alvelac. It has also created a character called Dr Bone for its publicity material.
All this effort has earned the company interest from dentists in Germany and America, where the concept of socket preservation following a tooth extraction is more entrenched.
BIS believes that the technology behind Alvelac can be expanded to different products in time to come, due to its ability to adjust the strength and porosity of the scaffold to fit the application, whether it be cosmetic, cranial or orthopaedic. 'The capability of this technology extends far beyond its current usage,' said Dr Chandra.