University of Toronto
Home to the oldest and largest dental school in Canada, the University of Toronto trains general dental practitioners as well as specialists, but prides itself on its research environment, concentrated in the Dental Research Institute (DRI). Some of the DRI faculty’s specialties are biomaterials, pain management, tissue regeneration, dental diagnostic imaging, and the relationship of oral to overall health.
Among the many units within or attached to the DRI is the Community Dental Health Services Research Unit, which works with the Ontario government to study public-health aspects of dentistry. The Institute also has commercialization on its radar. Dr. Peter Birek, for example, developed an implant device to time-release antibiotics used to treat periodontal infection.
Besides the dental school, other departments and units of the University of Toronto contribute to oral health research. These include the Institute of Biomaterials and Biomedical Engineering, whose brand-new director, J. Paul Santerre, started Interface Biologics while teaching and researching at the Faculty of Dentistry. Elsewhere in this issue, you can read about Interface, and about Quantum Dental Technologies, which was spun out of the Centre for Advanced Diffusion-Wave Technologies at the University of Toronto.
Toronto is known around the world as a dental hotspot; in early July 2008, Toronto hosted the International Association for Dental Research’s General Session.
University of British Columbia
On the West Coast, the hub for research in oral care is Vancouver. There, the University of British Columbia’s Faculty of Dentistry—allied with both the Department of Oral Health Sciences and the Department of Oral Biological and Medical Sciences—opened in the 1950s. It offers general dentistry programs and postgraduate training in oral biology, oral pathology, and periodontics, among other programs. Since the 1970s, UBC has offered continuing education to dental professionals, as well.
With the 2006 founding of the Nobel BioCare Oral Health Centre at the University of British Columbia, housed in an award-winning complex, Vancouver’s reputation as both a clinical and research centre in oral health has received a boost. Some of the research specialities at UBC are oral cancers, halitosis, and oral biofilms.
UBC also runs a Geriatric Dentistry Program, which offers clinical, educational, and research components. Its Elders Research Program has studied oral care in long-term health facilities; the feasibility of implant-supported dentures in the elderly; and, in collaboration with the University of Washington, a study on the effectiveness of combined rinses on the oral hygiene of seniors.
UBC is not the only major source for dental technologies in the province. Applied Medical Devices, Inc., a 10-year-old spin-off from Simon Fraser University’s engineering program, markets a dental colour analyzer and a dental translucency meter, among other devices. Company founder Andrew Rawicz also works on diagnosing oral cancers.
On that theme, the BC Cancer Agency developed and commercialized VELScope, a novel system for detecting oral cancer. You can read about the device in our February 2007 issue (Volume 5, issue 1) here. You can also find out what’s new with VELscope on their website.
Other centres for oral-health studies across Canada include Halifax; Montreal and neighbouring Laval, Québec; London, Ontario; Winnipeg; Saskatoon; and Edmonton. All of these participate in the national Network for Oral Research Training and Health (NORTH) scheme, which encourages students of oral health to participate in research projects over their summer break.
We profiled McGill’s Centre for Bone and Periodontal Research in our Spring 2008 issue. The Centre has ties to the Network for Oral and Bone Health Research, a web of about 60 researchers across Québec.
