Using a sophisticated new electro-dynamic instrument that simulates the grinding and chewing of teeth, two Brazilian researchers are studying experimental composite materials at NYUCD in an initiative made possible by Dr. Van P. Thompson, Professor and Chairman of the Department of Biomaterials and Biomimetics and Acting Chairman of the Department of Cariology and Operative Dentistry, and Dr. Dianne Rekow, Professor of Basic Science and Craniofacial Biology and of Orthodontics and Director of Translational Research. Drs. Thompson and Rekow have nurtured a close relationship with Brazilian dental educators for several years, including traveling to Brazil to lecture on materials research at the University of Bauru School of Dentistry and encouraging their Brazilian colleagues to identify students to come to NYUCD to conduct research using equipment that is not yet available in Brazil.

Currently, two Brazilian postdoctoral students, Dr. Nelson da Silva, from Bauru School of Dentistry, and Dr. Grace Mendonca Dias de Souza, from the State University of Campinas Piracicaba School of Dentistry, both in Sao Paulo, are conducting research at NYUCD. Dr. da Silva is assisting Dr. Rekow and Dr. Thompson with research on the performance and properties of machinable brittle ceramic materials in a collaborative study with Dr. Ricardo Marins de Carvalho, an Assistant Professor of Operative Dentistry at Bauru School of Dentistry, and Dr. Maria Fidela de Lima Navarro, the Dean and a Distinguished Professor of Operative Dentistry at Bauru School of Dentistry.

Dr. Mendonca Dias de Souza is working on her PhD dissertation on polymerization’s impact on composite restorations in a project overseen by Dr. Thompson and Dr. Mario Fernando de Goes, Piracicaba School of Dentistry’s Vice Dean and a Distinguished Professor of Restorative Dentistry.