News

Several Faculty of Dentistry members have presented their research at international conferences recently.

Dr. Derek Jones gave a presentation on “A New Improved Range of Fillers for Composites” at the FDI Annual World Dental Congress in Mexico City last September. Dr. Jones described the development of 15 uniquely shaped ceramic particles for composite restorations. The particles can be blended as part of a composite resin to improve wear resistance and enhance other properties such as fracture toughness and packability.

Dr. John Lovas presented a poster on “Cultivating Engagement through Mindfulness Practice” at the 2012 American Dental Education Association (ADEA) Annual Session in Orlando FL in March. This poster presented Dr. Lovas’ study of mindfulness training to improve student engagement.

The Faculty of Dentistry was also represented by several researchers at the 2012 American Association for Dental Research (AADR) annual meeting, which took place in Tampa FL, in March.

Dr. Sachin Seth gave an oral presentation “Effect of Instruction on Light Curing Effectiveness”. In this research, Dr. Seth and colleagues measured the amount of energy dental students delivered to a simulated restoration both before and after receiving training on light curing technique.

Dr. Richard Price presented a poster titled “ Effect of Energy on Shear Bond Strength of Bonding Agents”. The poster described an experiment to test the effect of bonding agent, resin shade and energy delivered, on the strength of a simulated restoration. Of these variables, the amount of energy delivered had the greatest effect on bond strength. Dr. Price was also a co-author on two other posters and two oral presentations at AADR 2012.

Dr. Ed Ghiabi presented a poster “The Periodontal Practice Profile of General Dentists in Nova Scotia”. The poster reported the results of a cross-sectional survey which investigated the extent to which general dentists in Nova Scotia provide periodontal and surgical implant therapies. Dentists in the survey reported providing non-surgical periodontal therapy but reported limited involvement in oral/periodontal and implant surgical therapy.