Clinical Therapeutics Research Group Overview

A major goal of the Department is the acquisition and dissemination of knowledge within the broad scope of endodontics. Within the Research Division, the Clinical Therapeutics Research Group is focused on research with high immediate impact to clinical endodontics. The primary goals of the research group are to serve as an engine for translating endodontic research into scientifically based endodontic care and to serve as a vehicle for educating dental students and residents on scientific methods and analyses relevant to endodontic therapeutics. 

The Clinical Therapeutics Research Group has been a traditional strength of the Department and previous studies have led to the introduction of the Canal Master and Lightspeed instrumentation systems. Additional research has studied specific procedures, materials or methods relating to endodontic diagnosis, access preparation, oral anatomy, instrumentation, obturation and associated restorative procedures. More than 100 published studies are highlighted in the Bibliography section of our group.

Due to its focus on therapeutics, all departmental faculty belong to the Clinical Therapeutics Research Group. Faculty, residents, staff, and dental students actively participate in collaborative multidisciplinary studies evaluating specific questions pertinent to clinical endodontics. 

Recent examples of studies include evaluation of the effects of age and gender on the relative position of the inferior alveolar nerve to the roots of mandibular molars (Simonton et al., J Endod 2009; 34:944-949), a comparison of the clinical healing outcomes of teeth obturated with gutta percha vs Resilon™ (Cotton, et al., J Endod 2008; 33:789-97) and a review on endodontic applications of cone beam volumetric tomography (CBCT; Cotton et al., J Endod 2007; 33:1121-32). In addition, the Department has published case series (Jung et al. J Endod 34:876-87), clinical research (Bose et al., J Endod (35:[in press], 2009) and review articles (Hargreaves et al., J Endod 2008; 34:S51-6; Murray et al., J Endod 2007:277-90 ) all focused on regenerative endodontics.

In particular, our endodontic residents and alumni have played key roles in supporting the efforts of The Clinical Therapeutics Research Group and we thank them for their contributions.