The research activities of the Department of Periodontics/Preventive Dentistry provide a combination of both federal and industry-sponsored research projects. A series of small and larger developing research projects continue in the Department of Periodontics/ Preventive Dentistry, and they are outlined below.

2005

Professor and Chair, Pouran Famili, DMD, MPH, PhD, received the doctoral degree in epidemiology in December 2005, with research showing clinical periodontal attachment loss in men undergoing androgen-deprivation therapy for prostate cancer.

2007

The effect of osteopenia or osteoporosis on the success of dental implants, submitted to the National Institues of Health Small Research Grant Program (R03).  In revisions and Council review for Fall 2007.

• Same project, supported in part by donation of implant supplies from NobelBiocare, Fall 2007.
• University of Pittsburgh Institutional Review Board #07030237, approval in progress for Fall 2007.

2007

Human subjects clinical research in progress, 2007. University of Pittsburgh IRB# 07050093: Assessing the relationship between periodontal disease and sickle cell anemia among an African-American population in Pittsburgh.

• Principal Investigator: Pouran Famili, with sickle-cell co-investigators. (Funded by Pouran Famili). Research is being conducted by resident Dr. Abdulaziz al-Jazzaf, supervising dental student Cody Nelson. The student receives a University of Pittsburgh Medical Center summer research START-UP grant for his work.    

2006-2007  

• A longitudinal study of health disparities and periodontal disease in a socioeconomically-disadvantaged African-American population in Pittsburgh
• Assessing periodontal health and disparities of oral health care in a socioeconomically-disadvantaged African-American population in Pittsburgh
• Effect of full mouth disinfection on periodontal health related to oral health
• -----Series of periodontal epidemiology and periodontal treatment research projects submitted to the National Institutes of Health and other funding agencies, aimed at the public health imperative of redressing regional oral health inequities and providing improved access to oral health care for vulnerable populations.
• Principal Investigator: Pouran Famili      

2006-2007

Consultant: Pouran Famili

NIH R01 Maintenance of Skeletal Integrity in Frail Elders

Principal Investigator: Susan L. Greenspan, MD.  Director, Osteoporosis Prevention and Treatment Center, University of Pittsburgh

Research underway in the modules, 2006-2007. University of Pittsburgh IRB #0512107: Comparison of methods of oral hygiene instruction in improving gingival health; approved April 14, 2006.

Currently underway in the first professional patient modules, under the direction of the Department of Periodontics/Preventive Dentistry faculty hygienist, Elizabeth Short.

The research compares the personal delivery of oral hygiene instruction by a professional, with a videotaped record of oral hygiene instruction, with recollected self-knowledge of oral hygiene, and at the same time comparing the relative efficacy of the traditional manual toothbrush with the latest-generation Sonicare™ electric-powered toothbrush.

A modification underway in the fall of 2006 adds a third, investigative, and non-traditional manual toothbrush. Another modification in the fall of 2006 compares orthodontic measures of malocclusion (by Angle's classification system) with the presence of caries and periodontal disease.