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Research aimed at improving diagnosis, treatment and prevention of human periodontal and peri-implant diseases is an important focus of faculty and graduate students in the Department of Periodontology.
Ongoing research on the microbiological etiology and anti-infective treatment of human periodontitis and infectious peri-implant complications is being conducted by the Department's Oral Microbiology Testing Service (OMTS) Laboratory, under the direction of Dr. Thomas E. Rams, which is one of only four such state and federally-licensed clinical periodontal microbiology reference laboratories in the United States.
The Periodontal Diagnostics Research Laboratory, under the direction of Dr. Jasim M. Albandar, is focused on conduct and analysis of human epidemiological studies of periodontal diseases in various population groups, and elucidation of associated risk factors that may be applicable in improving preventive and therapeutic strategies for clinicians.
Other recent department faculty research studies involve the longitudinal study of human dental implant performance with computer-assisted digital subtraction radiology, the association of maternal periodontal status with the occurrence of premature, low-birth weight birth outcomes, the association and management of oral osteonecrosis in patients taking systemic bisphosphonate medications, and longitudinal evaluation of the protective effect of high levels of species-specific serum IgG antibodies to the major periodontal pathogens Porphyromonas gingivalis and Actinobacillus actinomycetemcomitans in treated periodontitis patients remaining culture-positive for the organisms in their subgingival dental plaque microbiota.
All graduate periodontology specialty students enrolled in the clinical specialty postgraduate certificate program are concurrently required to engage in original research activities in order to successfully complete a research thesis-based Master of Science in Oral Biology degree prior to their graduation. Most recently, graduate periodontology student master’s thesis research projects have been completed and presented at the annual meeting of the American Association for Dental Research on the occurrence of doxycycline antibiotic resistance in periodontal Peptostreptococcus micros clinical isolates, and the outcome of human mini dental implants in long-term fixed prosthetic function.
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