Research

The School of Dentistry research faculty has pioneered discoveries in fluoride, virology, biomaterials, the link between bacteria in dental plaque and heart disease, and the relationship between oral health and general health and wellness.

In 1990, a $2.5 million National Institutes of Health grant helped launch the Oral Health Clinical Research Center, one of only four U.S. centers funded to transfer research and technology advances into clinical areas to enhance diagnosis, prevention and treatment of oral disease. 

The Minnesota Center for Biomaterials and Biomechanics (MDRCBB), which works closely with manufacturers to create and test new dental products and materials, has contributed major innovations to the field, including the Virtual Dental Patient and the "artificial mouth" - an invention unique enough to earn display rights at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C.

The Dental Practice-Based Research Network (DPBRN) recently awarded sub-contracts to Dr. Donald Nixdorf (Division of TMD and Orofacial Pain) to lead two projects focused on pain and root canal therapy (PDF). The main goal of these research projects is to understand who feels pain in association with root canal therapy, and how this pain affects those that feel it.

Over the next 2 ½ years, Dr. Nixdorf will collaborate with HealthPartners and private-practice dentists, both generalists and endodontists within this network, to recruit 300 patients in Minnesota and follow them for 6 months. The long-term goal of this research is to determine the risk factors for these pains, so that one day dentists can pre-emptively intervene to stop these pains from occurring.

Dentists interested in participating in these studies can obtain additional details here: "Research Studies & Network Enrollment," or by contacting Dr. Nixdorf.