McMaster and Biomedical Implant Technology Inc. collaborate on a novel dental implant

Nearly every industry is experiencing technological disruption. In manufacturing, developing new tooling and processes to meet shifting demands allows our partners to stay ahead of the disruption curve, and we’re proud to help them do it. Since 1999, the McMaster Manufacturing Research Institute (MMRI) has been a strategic partner to industry, applying our world-class expertise and cutting-edge facilities to solving manufacturers’ challenges — honing processes to maximize productivity and quality while reducing cost and facilitating product innovation.

Biomedical Implant Technology Inc. is an SME based in St. Catherine’s, Ontario, with 8 employees.

I would like to congratulate you and your team at McMaster Manufacturing Research Institute for the engineering design of the testing apparatus specific for our application in Implant Dentistry. The chewing machine and software are simple and robust. The design of the position measuring device is simple, accurate and reproducible. The data obtained was reliable and the conclusions drawn would be meaningful. Thanks again for meeting and exceed our requirements.
Dr. Norman Kwan, CEO of Biomedical Implant Technology Inc.

Biomedical Implant Technology Inc. developed a novel dental implant called the BioHex Dental Implant. The BioHex implant may one day replace the industry standard, but required thorough comparison testing to determine its viability and usable life compared to the current industry standard.

The MMRI team, in collaboration with Biomedical Implant Technology Inc., designed and developed a desktop machine capable of mimicking the chewing forces teeth are exposed to in a controlled fashion. The machine can be run continuously, replicating millions of chews while, at the same time, implants can be effectively monitored using the load sensors implemented in the machine.

Testing is still ongoing as of 2019. Biomedical Implant Technology Inc. hopes is that these new implants will be commercialized and available to dentists worldwide in the near future.