More than 3 million dental implants have been placed in the mouths of U.S. patients, and that number rises by 500,000 each year. While implants help many people restore their oral health, they come at a cost. Nearly 15 percent of patients with implants develop peri-implantitis, an infectious disease that triggers an immune response of […]
Microcephaly is a condition where the circumference of an individual’s head is smaller than normal. It can be caused by genetic abnormalities as well as fetal exposure to drugs; alcohol; certain viruses, such as Zika virus; or toxins during pregnancy. It’s rare — there are fewer than 200,000 cases a year in the United States. […]
Associate Dean of Research Yang Chai PhD ’91, DDS ’96 has been awarded a five-year, nearly $2 million grant by the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research (NIDCR) for research focused on better understanding the molecular regulatory mechanisms of cleft palate. It’s the fourth time the grant has been renewed, continuously supporting this research […]
Nearly half of all birth defects involve the face and skull and, for the most part, scientists remain unclear as to why most occur. To better serve families at risk for these conditions, scientists need a comprehensive and systematic understanding of how the faces of healthy children form and what goes wrong to cause common […]
To figure out how the body changes over time, researchers are increasingly looking to understand epigenetics, the study of changes in organisms caused by modification of gene expression rather than alteration of the genetic code itself. This scientific endeavor extends to teeth as well. Associate Dean of Research Yang Chai PhD ’91, DDS ’96 has […]
How the roots of teeth develop has long been a mystery. Professor Yang Chai aims to change that — and eventually regrow the roots of teeth. The lower two-thirds of a tooth are known as the root. Normally covered in bone, they anchor the tooth into the jaw. But the exact mechanisms and pathways […]
Dental enamel is tricky stuff. Even though it’s the body’s hardest material, if it wears away from cavities, acidic food or drinks or overbrushing, it doesn’t regenerate. All that could change in the future, though. Ostrow Professor Janet Moradian-Oldak has been developing a special hydrogel that can promote the growth of an enamel-like surface […]
Findings published in Biomaterials Special Issue of the Journal of the Minerals, Metals and Materials Society. Three million people in the United States currently have dental implants, and every year that number increases by about 500,000. But, for some, getting a dental implant is not the end of the story. Similar to what occurs with […]
Yang Chai PhD ’91, DDS ’96 shares his discovery in recent study published in the journal Bone Research. Could we be one step closer to developing a biological treatment for craniosynostosis? Building upon a body of research that demonstrated that the premature fusion of skull bones — which can cause a host of problems […]
NAM membership is considered one of the highest honors in the health and medicine field. Ostrow Associate Dean of Research Yang Chai PhD ’91, DDS ’96 has been elected to the National Academy of Medicine (NAM), a membership which is considered one of the highest honors in the fields of health and medicine. “Your […]
