Periodontium bestows vision!!

The role of periodontium in supporting the tooth structures is well-known. However, less is known about its contribution to the field of ophthalmology. Corneal diseases are among major causes of blindness affecting millions of people worldwide, for which synthetic keratoprosthesis was considered the last resort to restore vision. Yet, these synthetic keratoprosthesis suffered from serious limitations, especially the foreign body reactions invoked by them resulting in extrusion of the whole prosthesis from the eye. To overcome these shortcomings, an autologous osteo-odonto keratoprosthesis utilizing intraoral entities was introduced that could positively restore vision even in cases of severely damaged eyes. The successful functioning of this prosthesis, however, predominantly depended on the presence of a healthy periodontium for grafting. Therefore, the following short communication aims to acknowledge this lesser-known role of the periodontium and other oral structures in bestowing vision to the blind patients.