Laboratory-based investigations on dental hard and soft tissues.
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Laboratory-based investigations on dental hard and soft tissues.
IRAS ID
157132
Contact name
John M Whitworth
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
The Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Duration of Study in the UK
5 years, 8 months, 30 days
Research summary
It may be surprising that we have an incomplete understanding of the hard and soft tissues that make up teeth; how they are involved in tooth formation, what their roles are in maintaining the integrity of teeth throughout life, how they sense and respond to injury and what their potential is for regeneration, repair and re-growth. These questions become increasingly important as our clinical efforts to preserve, repair and regenerate dental tissues run ahead of the foundational science. During the last 5 years, with a succession of research associates and students, we have engaged in a programme of work on ovine, bovine and rodent dental tissues, developing techniques and gaining novel insights on the structure and physical properties of dental hard tissues, their response to chemical and physical treatments, the relationship between dental hard and soft tissues, cellular arrangements, signalling and control mechanisms in health and following injury.
We wish now to translate our work to human tissues, applying a range of analytical techniques, including physical and biochemical testing, light, SEM and Atomic Force Microscopy to explore the structure and physical properties of dental hard tissues in health and following dental injury, disease and therapeutic treatments. The relationship of dental hard tissues with their associated soft tissues (enamel organ, dental pulp and periodontal ligament) in varying states of health, injury and therapy will be examined in demineralised and non-demineralised specimens, and soft tissues will be explored for their cellular arrangements, sensory and control systems using a range of contemporary physiological and immunohistochemical techniques.
The findings of this work are likely to fill important gaps in our understanding of tooth formation, and normal physiology and help us to provide a stronger basis of foundational science to underpin the management of dental disease from an increasingly biological perspective.
REC name
Wales REC 7
REC reference
15/WA/0129
Date of REC Opinion
9 Apr 2015
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion