Resident projects

Resident research is an integral part of the graduate program and a requirement for completion of the certificate program in periodontics. Successful completion and oral defense leads to a M.S. in Dentistry.

Research projects range from basic periodontal biology to clinical and educational concepts. Residents present at national and international meetings and are published in state and professional journals.

Past resident research projects include:

  • Factors affecting gingival excess, altered passive eruption and recession in the mandible anterior and premolar sites
  • The prevalence of maxillary altered passive eruption in a dental school population
  • Alveolar ridge dimension analysis following socket preservation using assessment and cone beam computed tomography (CBCT)
  • Defining the bacterial profiles of healthy vs. diseased sites in chronic periodontitis
  • Patient satisfaction with sedation for periodontal surgery: a randomized, cross-over clinical study
  • C-reactive protein levels in patients with chronic periodontitis
  • Homologs of porphyromas gingivalis proteases in bacteroides forsythus
  • Relationship between serum contine levels and periodontal disease
  • Prevalence of the need for esthetic crown lengthening in post-orthodontic treated subjects
  • Relationship between c-reactive protein levels and oral inflammation
  • Interleukin -6 levels in generalized and localized aggressive periodontitis
  • C-reactive protein levels in severe aggressive periodontitis patients
  • Demographic variables affecting patient referrals from general practice dentists to periodontists
  • Serum anti-PC concentration following periodontal scaling and root planing
  • The effect of non-surgical periodontal therapy on serum levels of c-reactive protein and human sCD40 ligand
  • Changes in serum ICAM-1, serum V CAM-1 and serum E-Selectim concentration following periodontal scaling and root planning
  • The effects of scaling and root planing on the systemic levels of matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9) and tissue inhibitor of martix metalloproteinase-1 (TIMP-1)
  • Recession and other gingival and occlusal characteristics associated with abfraction
  • Heritability of autoantibody levels in a twin population
  • Frequency of  TLR-2,2,9 and CD 14 polymorphisms in aggressive periodontitis populations in African-Americans
  • The effect of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in toll-like receptors -2, -4, -9 and CD14 Genes in an African-American population with chronic periodontitis