Research

Oral Biology Research

Please find below a listing of the types of research that we are currently involved in. For further information regarding oral biology research opportunities, please email petemurr@nova.edu or cgarciag@nova.edu.

Endodontics

The scope of endodontics includes, but is not limited to, the differential diagnosis and treatment of oral pain of pulpal and/or periapical origin; vital pulp therapy such as pulp capping and pulpotomy; root canal therapy such as pulpectomy, nonsurgical treatment of root canal systems with or without periapical pathosis of pulpal origin, and the obturation of these root canal systems; selective surgical removal of pathological tissues resulting from pulpal pathosis; intentional replantation and replantation of avulsed teeth; surgical removal of tooth structure such as in root-end resection, hemisection, and root resection; endodontic implants; bleaching of discolored dentin and enamel (teeth); retreatment of teeth previously treated endodontically; and treatment procedures related to coronal restorations by means of post and/or cores involving the root canal space.

The success of endodontic procedures are evidence based. Evidence based endodontics is clinical observation with scientific support. Patient access to healthcare information is continually increasing. Patients are not content to simply accept treatments they are offered or advised. Patients will now ask if the treatment will work, if it is necessary, and if there is an alternative. New techniques are always evidence- based. Here at Nova Southeastern University, we are working to create new and improved endodontic materials, irrigants and treatments based on strong supporting scientific and clinical evidence.

Pulp Biology

For over 50 years, from the 1950's until his death in 2002, oral pathologist Harold Stanley DDS, MS collected extracted teeth from across the world. Recently the histological archive was located at Nova Southeastern College of Dental Medicine. It is reportedly the largest and most compete histological archive in the world containing over 200,000 specimens and weighing more than 3 tons of teeth!

Dr. Stanley can be credited with establishing Oral Biology as the science we know today, prior to his efforts, the practice of dentistry and treatment planning had little regard for the biology of the oral tissues.

Dr. Stanley specialized in the soft tissue in the core of teeth called 'pulp'. The pulp is responsible for creating tooth dentin and for maintaining the vitality of the tooth throughout life. It is also responsible for the pain experienced if the tooth is diseased or damaged, and also for hot and cold sensitivity.

Dr. Stanley studied pulp death and regeneration. The photograph opposite shows the ability of the pulp cells to mineralize more tooth substance in response to injury. The purpose of the increased mineralization is to protect the pulp tissue from disease, injury and trauma. Dr. Stanley also showed that the bacterial invasion of teeth could destroy the cells and cause a loss of tooth vitality. The invasion of tooth dentinal tubules by bacteria can be seen in the photograph opposite. The bacteria is present in the mouth saliva. If bacteria reaches the pulp it can cause severe inflammation called 'pulpitis'. The pulpitis is normally painful and will require endodontic treatment. This involves the removal of the pulp and the cleaning and shaping of the root canals. The faculty and staff of Nova Southeastern are preparing the extensive histological archive of Dr. Stanley for on-line use. This will enable anyone to access his archive of teeth from anywhere in the world.

Stem Cells

Stem cells have the ability to continuously divide and differentiate (develop) into various other kinds of cells/tissues. All tissues originate from fetal stem cells. Recently adult stem cells have been identified with the ability to create new tissues. We investigate stem cells that are taken from donor adult tissues, we do not conduct any research using fetal stem cells. Tissue engineering is the creation of new replacement tissues Potential patients that could benefit from stem cell therapies (millions):

Potential Therapies

Stem cells will be used as part of tissue engineering to create new tissues to replace diseased, missing and lost tissues:

Tissue Engineering

Tissue engineering is the creation of new tissues in the laboratory using stem cells, bioactive molecules and scaffolds. How we will use stem cells therapeutically:

  1. Isolate stem cells from blood transfusion or cell culture (flow cytometer)
  2. Proliferate the cells in culture using growth factors
  3. Grow the cells around scaffold materials
  4. Create organ culture conditions for a specific cell and tissue type
  5. Transplant the new replacement tissues into patients
Elderly Oral Health

The incidence of diseases, and oral problems in the elderly requiring dental treatment is uncertain. In this study, the oral health of 265 South Florida nursing home residents aged between 45 and 98 years was assessed. The levels of tooth loss, oral hygiene scores, oral status, and the status of existing dentures are summarized.