Research at the Institute of Dentistry
Research at the Institute of Dentistry, University of Turku, has been active, innovative and internationally recognized since the early 1960's. The research has led to a number of clinical and commercial applications. Consequently, the Institute of Dentistry, University of Turku is known for high-quality research. The widely recognized areas of research include, e.g. in vivo studies of tooth microcirculation, research on craniofacial growth and development, xylitol studies, and other laboratory and clinical studies on caries prevention, studies of viral infections on mucosal surfaces, as well as research on biomaterials. These are just a few examples since pioneering research has been done also in, e.g. stomatognathic physiology, pain, and salivary research. The main target in almost all studies has been the prevention of oral diseases and, in fact, Turku is known worldwide in this field.
Some research groups of the Institute belong to the BioCity Turku profiling research programs. The biomaterials reseach program is run by the Institute of Dentistry (www.biomaterials.utu.fi). The research laboratories are located in the Dentalia and PharmaCity buildings. In PharmaCity is the new core-facility laboratory of the Faculty of Medicine, Turku Clinical Biomaterials Centre – TCBC. Research groups of the Institute of Dentistry have a wide international network. Research is funded by the European Comission, the Academy of Finland, the Finnish Funding Agency for Technology and Innovation (TEKES) and industry.