Thiago Soares Porto's research on bioactive glasses with niobum nanoparticles is intended to develop a novel adhesive system capable of enhancing the quality and longevity of dental restorations

Like most high-level research universities, Iowa Dentistry relies on its grant administration team to help faculty develop their grant applications, ensuring that the applications meet all grant requirements while providing feedback to faculty members identifying potential weakness in the grant application. Ann Lawler, Mikaela Rhoads, and Maria Bertorello make up the grant administration team, and Iowa Dentistry's research successes are due in no small part to their on-going efforts to support our faculty and researchers.

Sivaraman Prakasam, associate professor and head of the Department of Periodontics, is investigating a particular group of proteins that discriminates between good and bad bacteria in a person’s gingiva (gum) and mouth to modulate the body’s immune response. His research could lead to new tools that can prevent or treat periodontitis.

Check out these sights from the 71st Anniversary of the Iowa Section of the AADOCR.

The Dental Student Research Program at Iowa Dentistry has a long and venerable tradition of teaching students to conduct and think critically about research. Fourth-year dental student Colton Curtis exemplifies these qualities in his work investigating methods to improve dry mouth and oral health in older populations with dentures. Curtis’ experience over the course of his dental career illustrates this well. He began doing research in his first year, but it took him a while to zero in on the right topic.

Dr. Leary and Dr. Cho to participate in year-long professional development program.

Iowa Dentistry faculty seeking better teeth for teaching purposes found a perfect partner in Protostudios. The on-campus rapid-prototyping organization, known for transforming inventors’ ideas, delivered consistent, durable simulated teeth.

Prosthodontics, under the leadership of Aaron Cho, is bringing technology and innovation in the field of prosthodontics to Iowa for the benefit patients, clinicians, residents, and students.

Tabak is the keynote speaker of the 71st annual meeting of the Iowa Section of the AADOCR

Arshi Munjal, a DDS student, was named a 2024 Dare to Discover student. Munjal is studying ways our diets can impact the oral microbiome. The primary aim of her research is to compare microbial composition and co-occurrence patters in different areas of the oral cavity and then evaluate how they vary in individuals with different diets. Research in this area is limited, so Munjal hopes to better understand how our diets influence the oral microbiome and evaluate potential consequences on dental and perioral diseases.