First Time in Gyumri: Dental Implantation Master Class Surgery

On October 3 Gyumri hosted the first dental implantation master class surgery for doctors to watch for the purpose of supporting the development of dental implantation practice in Gyumri.

The initiative came from Kamo Mailyan and dental implantology doctor Davit Galstyan as they asked Bredent Medical of Germany, a premium class implants and medical products producer, to bring their innovative products and system to Gyumri of Armenia. The primary goal of the event was to bring doctors from Gyumri, other regions of Armenia and Georgia together to watch surgeries, network, exchange with experience and seek opportunities for dental tourism development in Gyumri.

The materials and expenses for two surgeries during the day were donated by Kamo Mailyan and Bredent Medical’s head office in Germany. The surgeries, organizational and prosthetic works were provided for free by Dr. Davit’s team. Stomalux dental clinic of Gyumri provided the surgery rooms in the clinic. The proceeds paid by Gyumri patients were donated to a social assistance project for children with the help of Shirak Center of Gyumri.

Dr. Davit, who did the two surgeries as a doctor certified by Bredent Medical in Armenia and Georgia, said, “This new method of surgery is new in Armenia and Georgia. In Gyumri it was done for the first time. It allows the patient to walk out of the clinic with new teeth after one surgery as this concept allows a team of a doctor, assistant and dental technician to work together to produce results. Normally dental implantation surgeries are done in several sessions as patients have to wait for several months for bone integration before having their teeth in place. This method, which is called ‘Fast & Fixed’, allows to have a provisorium fixed in one session. For patients it really makes difference as they do not have to go through surgery stress twice, and they have functional teeth the same day. For doctors it is good too because they use their resources once, and the cost goes down too.”

The team of organizers will give an opportunity to doctors from Gyumri to watch surgeries in Yerevan and Tbilisi as well to learn skills, and doctors who want to do surgeries themselves in Gyumri will be given an opportunity to visit Germany and be trained by Bredent Medical. The company will also offer better conditions of cooperation to clinics of Gyumri.

The presentation event hosted over 60 participants, including representatives of mass media and local non-for-profit organizations to introduce them to the opportunities of positioning Gyumri as a dental tourism destination.

“We want patients to come from Russia, Georgia, Canada and other countries to Gyumri for dental implantation surgeries and be sure that they will have premium class materials and medical services here. We will enable doctors from Gyumri to be involved as much as possible to exchange experience, network and learn,” said Dr. Davit.

Raffi Elliott, who has moved to Armenia from Canada and is supporting medical tourism development in Armenia, says he is optimistic about the prospects of dental tourism development in Gyumri. “It is a significant achievement to have these new practices in Gyumri. We have had patients who wanted to use this concept for their surgeries, and it proved to be very good and financially viable for people we invited from overseas. The quality they are getting here has high standards too. We already have experience as we invited people from Canada. There were even patients who were not Armenians and came here for treatment, and they were so happy that they told their stories to their friends and referred new patients,” said Raffi Elliott.

Following the surgeries the guests and doctors from Georgia, who had stayed in Gyumri overnight, joined their Armenian counterparts to visit touristic areas and get acquainted with opportunities Gyumri can offer as a destination of dental tourism.