Schulich Dentistry 2017 IRG (Internal Research Grant) Competition Results

Congratulations to Drs. Les Kalman and Harinder Sandhu, Clinician Scientists, who were each awarded a Schulich Dentistry IRG of $10,000 each. The IRG Program supports research initiatives of relevance to oral health or dental education.  A maximum of $10,000 is available to successful applicants for seed money, one-time requests, and projects of short duration.

Dr. Les Kalman

Assistant Professor, Restorative Dentistry
Chair, Dental Outreach Community Service (DOCS)
‘Development & Assessment of a Dental Shade App and Peripherals with Dental Students

Abstract: The determination and communication of dental shade can be one of the most challenging aspects for the restorative dentist and even more difficult for the dental student.  Improper shade determination is the second most common reason for laboratory remakes, which proves to be timely and costly.  Shade determination may have a subjective approach, based on numerous variables, or may employ technology, which has provided a slight improvement.  This research project will develop a novel software application and peripherals for the accurate determination and communication of teeth and soft tissue shades.

Dr. Harinder Sandhu

Chair and Professor, Periodontics
Co-investigators:  Drs. Roman Maev and Bartosz Slak (Windsor)
Clinical Evaluation of an Ultrasonic Dental Device for Gingival Thickness Assessment

Abstract: Presently there is no objective, non-invasive technique available to assess the quality and quantity of soft and hard tissues in the oral cavity. Our collaborators at The University of Windsor have developed a novel compact device to address the clinical need for soft tissue measurements. We propose to clinically assess and evaluate this device prototype for non-invasive measurements of gingival thickness in dental patients treated at Schulich Dentistry. It is believed that the proposed device can considerably improve diagnosis and treatment of patients requiring periodontal intervention.