School of Dentistry research to be featured in Dentalgram
by Nancy Yuen
I recently received my first crown—a major thing in my life! And not something I want to go through every few years. While waiting for my appointment I learned of someone who has a crown that has lasted more than 40 years.
What dental materials work the best (and longest)? What are the best instruments
for a dentist to use while working with these materials? The School of
Dentistry is involved in numerous research projects on dental materials
and products which will answer these questions, helping dentists and improving
the lives of people from infancy (testing a revolutionary pacifier design)
to improve dental materials for senior citizens.
“People are living longer,” informs Carlos Muñoz, DDS,
MSD, professor of restorative dentistry and director of the Center for
Dental Research. “They are keeping their teeth longer, and dentists
are faced with new challenges as they treat their patients.”
In addition to the pacifier study the School is working on clinical trials
of all-ceramic restorations, new generation composite resins, the effectiveness
of new dental adhesives and curing lights, tooth-whitening agents and
biocompatibility of several new dental materials..
The School is also testing a newly formulated toothpaste with desensitizers.
“There are 40 million people in the United States with root sensitivity,”
says Dr. Muñoz. “And 10 million of these individuals have
chronic root sensitivity, making it extremely painful for them to brush
their teeth in certain areas.”
In future issues of Dentalgram, you will meet the faculty and staff who
are working on these and other research projects; and will learn in-depth
about some of the fascinating research projects the School is conducting.
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