A clinical faculty member with the UBC Faculty of Medicine has made medical history with a first-in-Canada procedure that restores vision using a surprising eye implant — a patient’s own tooth.
Dr. Greg Moloney, an eye surgeon and clinical associate professor in UBC’s Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, began performing the procedure earlier this year with a team at Mount Saint Joseph Hospital, operated by Providence Health Care.
Known as “tooth-in-eye” surgery, or osteo-odonto-keratoprosthesis, the procedure involves removing a patient’s tooth and inserting an artificial lens through its centre. Surgeons then implant the tooth into a patient’s cheek to promote tissue growth before implanting it into the eye.
Several B.C. patients who were previously blind have now undergone the procedure and had some level of sight restored. They are the first patients in Canada to have the surgery, which is designed to help people whose blindness is related to scarring on the eye surface from trauma, chemical burns or conditions like autoimmune diseases.
Dr. Moloney and one of those patients, 34-year-old North Vancouver resident Brent Chapman, recently spoke with CNN about the life-changing procedure.
For Dr. Moloney, being able to help patients like Chapman regain site is a powerful experience.
“It’s like watching people come out of a time capsule and reintroduce themselves to the world,” Dr. Moloney told CNN. “It’s highly emotional for us.”
Learn more about Dr. Moloney’s work and Chapman’s experience as one of the first Canadian patients in the CNN article, Rare ‘tooth-in-eye’ surgery restores man’s vision after two decades, published on September 15, 2025.