Dental robotics, clinical trials, lead Jacksonville area's latest Healthful News

Beth Reese Cravey, Jacksonville Florida Times-Union
·5 min read
Dr. Bradley Hall has incorporated the Yomi Robotic Dental system into his Nassau County implantology practice. Yomi received clearance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in 2022.
Dr. Bradley Hall has incorporated the Yomi Robotic Dental system into his Nassau County implantology practice. Yomi received clearance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in 2022.

A Nassau County dentist says he is the first in Northeast Florida to use a federally authorized dental robot to assist in surgery.

Dr. Bradley Hall has incorporated the Yomi Robotic Dental system from Neocis Inc. into his dental and implantology practice, Amelia Perfect Smile at 5211 S. Fletcher Ave., Suite 230, in Fernandina Beach. Yomi received clearance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in 2022.

"We would never go back to placing implants without robotic guidance after 35 years of free-hand placement," Hall said, calling the use of robotics in implant surgery "clearly the future."

Like a global positioning system or GPS, the $220,000 Yomi can "map out and customize a treatment plan for each patient," according to a news release. The system includes software that downloads individual surgical plans into a robotic arm, which "provides guidance to dental surgeons as they conduct an implant procedure."

Implant procedures that used to take weeks can now be done in one sitting, with patients suffering "little-to-no" no discomfort or down time. Hall said his patients have been accepting of the system. Insurance that covers implant procedures also covers the robotic-assisted surgery.

"It can turn a very skilled surgeon into a perfect surgeon. I’ve had a lot of compliments," Hall said.

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For more information, contact Amelia Perfect Smile at (904) 491-8005 or go to ameliaperfectsmile.com.

The dental robotics system in Nassau County is among the latest news in the high-growth health care industry in Northeast Florida. Here's what else has been happening that's not already reported by the Times-Union:

UF Health/Mayo Jacksonville

A UF Health physician and his team have launched a nonprofit that will help connect patients with federally authorized regenerative medicine clinical trials, five of which are at the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville.

The number of cell-based therapies — placing healthy cells into the body to replace diseased or damaged ones — is increasing, according to UF. But patients may have difficulty determining if a particular clinical trial is legitimate and regulated.

The Mayo Clinic's Jacksonville campus is at 4500 San Pablo Road on the Southside.
The Mayo Clinic's Jacksonville campus is at 4500 San Pablo Road on the Southside.

Dr. Keith March, director of the UF Center for Regenerative Medicine, came up with the idea for TrueTrials, a free, user-friendly website with a searchable listing of approved trials. March, a practicing cardiologist and biochemist, said the website can tell patients "Go here. … This is a place you can trust to be conducting trials that are appropriately regulated."

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TrueTrials only includes U.S.-based facilities with FDA-authorized studies that use cell-based therapies. Patients can search by specific medical conditions and location.

The trials at Mayo Jacksonville are for various treatments for vulvar lichen sclerosus, a chronic skin condition that usually affects the genital and anal areas; shoulder and knee osteoarthritis, a degenerative joint disease; end-stage renal disease, or advanced kidney failure; and erectile disfunction.

Ascension St. Vincent’s Southside

Six months after Ascension St. Vincent's Riverside Hospital stopped providing maternity care, one of its two sister facilities in the Jacksonville area has expanded those services.

Ascension St. Vincent's Southside Hospital added six new labor, delivery, recovery and postpartum rooms for mothers, which allow mothers to go through all those phases of childbirth in one space, according to Ascension.

Ascension St. Vincent's Southside Hospital has added six new labor, delivery, recovery and postpartum rooms, which allow mothers to go through all those phases of childbirth in one space. Some of the maternal unit staff are shown here. [Provided by Ascension]
Ascension St. Vincent's Southside Hospital has added six new labor, delivery, recovery and postpartum rooms, which allow mothers to go through all those phases of childbirth in one space. Some of the maternal unit staff are shown here. [Provided by Ascension]

Funded by a $5 million gift from local philanthropist Mary Virginia Terry, the project supplements the 17 maternal rooms already on campus, Ascension said. St. Vincent’s Southside, which delivers nearly 260 babies per month, also offers lactation consultants and wireless fetal monitoring, among other things.

Ascension St. Vincent’s Riverside Hospital stopped providing maternity care in March, citing declining patient numbers and the growth of alternative sites across Northeast Florida. Ascension continues maternity services at its hospitals on Jacksonville's Southside and in Clay County.

Walmart Health

Walmart Health has opened a new clinic on the Southside, its fifth in the Jacksonville area in two years, each providing primary care, laboratory tests, X-ray and EKG, behavioral health, dental, select specialty services and community health.

This new center is at 4250 Philips Highway, Unit 100, adjacent to the Walmart Supercenter. It will be open seven days a week with weekend and evening hours as well as telehealth options on Sundays.

Walmart Health has opened its fifth clinic in the Jacksonville area in two years. All are based at Walmart Supercenters. The latest, opened Oct. 4, is adjacent to the Walmart Supercenter at 4250 Philips Highway.
Walmart Health has opened its fifth clinic in the Jacksonville area in two years. All are based at Walmart Supercenters. The latest, opened Oct. 4, is adjacent to the Walmart Supercenter at 4250 Philips Highway.

The expansion stems from the company "continuing its commitment to making quality health care more convenient, accessible and affordable for customers across the country," Walmart said.

To contact the clinic, call (904) 916-0578.

Wolfson Children's Hospital

The new board chairwoman of Wolfson Children's Hospital in Jacksonville has family ties to her new position.

Erin Wolfson is the great-grandaughter of Morris David Wolfson, the Lithuanian immigrant who arrived in the U.S. in 1896 and ended up in Jacksonville, where he developed a resale business.

The death of his year-old son in 1922 from pneumonia prompted Wolfson's dream of establishing a children’s hospital. Seven years after the elder Wolfson died, the Wolfson Family Foundation formed by his other children made the initial $500,000 donation that that helped the nonprofit hospital open in 1955, according to the hospital website.

Wolfson
Wolfson

Wolfson is the daughter of Karen and Don Wolfson, the grandson of Morris David Wolfson. An assistant state attorney with the 4th Judicial Circuit State Attorney’s Office, she has spent most of her career prosecuting cases of domestic violence, sexual assault and crimes against children.

Duval County Medical Society

Dr. Ferdinand Formoso has been elected as 2023-24 president of the Duval County Medical Society.

He is a board-certified interventional pain medicine specialist as well as a board-certified physical medicine and rehabilitation specialist. He founded Formoso Spine & Joint Pain Specialists, which serves acute and chronic spine and joint pain patients in Jacksonville.

Send Northeast Florida healthcare-industry news items to bcravey@jacksonville.com, (904) 359-4109

This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Jacksonville-area health care news at Mayo Clinic, Walmart, Ascension