Using biomarkers and continuous patient follow-up, the project aims to prevent the loss of dental implants or irreversible bone damage.
La Universidad de los Andes, a través de la School of Dentistry, was awarded the proyecto FONDEF IDeA I+D 2025 "Pro-implant health: precision dentistry for early diagnosis of peri-implant pathology using oral biomarkers",a scientific and technological initiative aimed at improving the health and survival of dental implants through state-of-the-art molecular diagnostic tools.
Peri-implant pathology — which includes peri-implant mucositis and peri-implantitis — affects approximately 1 in 2 dental implants and can lead to chronic inflammation, irreversible bone loss, and, in many cases, loss of the implant. Currently, its diagnosis relies on clinical and radiographic methods with low sensitivity, which detect the disease only when the damage is already evident.
In response to this challenge, the PRO-IMPLANT HEALTH project proposes the development and validation of a minimally invasive diagnostic kit based on the detection of molecular biomarkers and extracellular vesicles present in the peri-implant fluid. This tool will enable early identification of implants at risk, before irreversible bone damage occurs, advancing toward a preventive and personalized precision dentistry model.
The study is being conducted at Clínica Universidad de los Andes and involves recruiting 100 patients treated at that facility and 100 patients at Clínica Universidad de la Frontera— totaling more than 200 patients who will receive dental implants, with clinical and molecular follow-up at 6 and 12 months, integrating advanced proteomic analysis, bioinformatics, and predictive algorithms based on machine learning, with a view to future clinical implementation and commercial scale-up.
The project is led by the Alejandra Chaparro, a researcher at the School of Dentistry at UANDES, and is developed in collaboration with Universidad de La Frontera, the Melisa Institute , and a network of national and international experts in periodontics and implantology, fostering collaboration between academia, industry, and technology transfer.
With this award, Universidad de los Andes reaffirms its commitment to applied research, health innovation, and the development of solutions with real clinical impact,improving the quality of life of patients and positioning Chile as a benchmark in precision dentistry and oral biomarkers.