Researcher working on ways to ‘disrupt' periodontitis
Sivaraman Prakasam, Ph.D., associate professor and head of the department of periodontics at the University of Iowa College of Dentistry and Dental Clinics, is conducting research with the hopes of adding a tool for early identification and treatment of periodontitis.
“If we identify and disrupt the disease process early before it becomes particularly destructive, periodontitis is relatively easy to prevent and reverse,” he said.
Peptidoglycan recognition proteins, the focus of his research, are known to recognize essential structures in bacteria.
“This recognition process has evolved over millennia such that their proteins effectively discriminate between good and bad bacteria, and thus helping the body produce an immune response against those bacteria that are harmful to the health of the organism,” he said.
The National Institutes of Health and the National Institute for Dental and Craniofacial Research awarded Dr. Prakasam and his team a grant to eventually explore the functions of these proteins.
Full story: University of Iowa College of Dentistry and Dental Clinics
The article presented here is intended to inform you about the broader media perspective on dentistry, regardless of its alignment with the ADA's stance. It is important to note that publication of an article does not imply the ADA's endorsement, agreement, or promotion of its content.