The UW鈥檚 community collaborations span the state. In recent months, the School of Dentistry has offered care in, and, alongside monthly service days at Union Gospel Mission in Seattle and quarterly mobile clinics. Patients receive oral health exams, fillings, tooth extractions and cleanings.听

鈥淭he work we do in communities across the state is a great example of why the 91探花is often called the University for Washington,鈥� said Andr茅 Ritter, dean of the 91探花School of Dentistry. 鈥淭hese programs and partnerships advance the mission of the 91探花and the School in significant ways through education and clinical care.鈥澨�

The clinics are organized through the School鈥檚 Office of Educational Partnerships, which is solely focused on improving the oral health of people in the Pacific Northwest. OEP coordinates outreach programs that address the distinct needs of each community. Dental students have the opportunity to serve in outreach clinics or act as mentors for middle- and high-school students, encouraging them to pursue dental education and eventually serve their own communities.听听

Dental students typically begin seeing patients near the start of their third year. At the UW, however, students have the opportunity to work in clinical settings in underserved communities the summer after their first year through the听听

The School also offers a specific educational track that trains dentists to work in rural and underserved communities. Operated in conjunction with Eastern Washington University and the 91探花School of Medicine, the program 鈥� 鈥� has seen over 80% of its graduates return to rural and underserved communities across the Pacific Northwest.听

鈥淥ral health is an essential part of overall well-being, and everyone deserves access to high-quality dental care,鈥� said , a 91探花clinical associate professor of pediatric dentistry and director of the Office of Educational Partnerships. 鈥淲e recognize that it is our duty and privilege to serve those who need it most.鈥澨�

听The 91探花School of Dentistry will continue its service and outreach programs throughout the fall and winter quarters. For more information or to learn about upcoming service days, contact Alden Woods at acwoods@uw.edu.

Twelve faculty members at the 91探花 have been elected to the Washington State Academy of Sciences. They are among 36 scientists and educators from across the state July 17 as new members. Election recognizes the new member鈥檚 鈥渙utstanding record of scientific and technical achievement and willingness to assist the Academy in providing the best available scientific information and technical understanding to inform complex policy decisions in Washington.鈥�听

The 91探花faculty members were selected by current WSAS members or by their election to national science academies. Eleven were voted on by current WSAS members:听

, professor, Bill & Melinda Gates Chair, and director of the Paul G. 听Allen School for Computer Science & Engineering, for 鈥渃ontributions in data management for data science, big data systems, cloud computing and image/video analytics and leadership in data science education.鈥�听

professor of civil & environmental engineering and of industrial & systems engineering, for 鈥減ioneering work in human mobility analysis and infrastructure resilience, which have transformed transportation systems in terms of both demand and supply, and shaped the future directions of transportation systems research on community-based solutions and disaster resilience.鈥�听

Lloyd and Kay Chapman Endowed Chair for Oral Health and associate dean for research in the 91探花School of Dentistry, and professor in the Department of Health Systems & Population Health, for 鈥渓eadership in understanding and addressing children’s oral health inequities through community-based socio-behavioral interventions and evidence-based policies.鈥�听

professor of biology, for 鈥渋nternationally recognized leadership in the biology of sleep, including groundbreaking research on molecular and genetic aspects of the brain, human behavioral studies on learning under varied sleep schedules, and contributions that have shaped policy on school schedules and standard time.鈥�听

, the Virginia and Prentice Bloedel professor of physics and of electrical & computer engineering, for 鈥渇oundational contributions to fundamental and applied research on the optical and spin properties of quantum point defects in crystals and for service and leadership in the quantum community.鈥� 听

, professor and chair of human centered design and engineering, for 鈥渁ward-winning leadership in HCI computing, whose research has advanced health and education technology, influenced policy, and shaped the HCI field of through impactful scholarship, interdisciplinary collaboration and inclusive, real-world technology design.鈥�听

, professor and associate dean for research in the 91探花School of Social Work, for 鈥渃ontributions to understanding psychosocial and physiological factors that moderate the effectiveness of their interventions and ultimately improve the health of children with abdominal pain disorders.鈥�听

, professor of medicine in the 91探花School of Medicine and of pharmacy, 鈥渇or leadership in health economics and cancer research, including work on financial toxicity, cost- effectiveness, and healthcare policy that has influenced national discussions, improved cancer care access, and shaped policies for equitable and sustainable healthcare.鈥� Ramsey is also Director of the Cancer Outcomes Research Program at Fred Hutch.听

, professor of bioengineering and Vice Dean of Research and Graduate Education in the 91探花School of Medicine, for 鈥渘ational leadership in biomedical research, research policy, and graduate education, including pioneering novel drug delivery approaches for regenerative medicine applications in the nervous system and other tissues such as bone, cartilage, tendon and skin.鈥�听

, Rabinowitz Endowed Professor of Earth and space sciences, for 鈥渞evolutionizing our understanding of climate change in Antarctica through pioneering ice core extractions under hazardous Antarctic conditions and their subsequent analyses over two decades, and for applying that expertise to advance climate research in Washington State.鈥�听

, professor of pharmaceutics, for 鈥減ioneering contributions to pharmaceutical and translational sciences, including groundbreaking research on drug transporters, PBPK modeling and maternal-fetal pharmacology that have helped shaped drug safety policies.鈥�听

The Academy also welcomed new members who were selected by virtue of their election to the National Academies of Science, Engineering or Medicine. Among them is , the Arthur B. McDonald professor of physics and director of the Center for Experimental Nuclear Physics and Astrophysics. Hertzog was elected to the National Academy of Sciences last year. 听

Five 91探花 researchers have been named AAAS Fellows, according to a . They are among 471 newly elected fellows from around the world, who are recognized for their 鈥渟cientifically and socially distinguished achievements鈥� in science and engineering. A tradition dating back to 1874, election as an AAAS Fellow is a lifetime honor. All fellows are expected to meet the commonly held standards of professional ethics and scientific integrity.

This year鈥檚 91探花AAAS fellows are:

, professor of genome sciences in 91探花Medicine, was recognized for her distinguished contributions to the field of the evolution of tissue development by signaling pathways and to the training of junior scientists. She studies developmental biology, and her work focuses on the patterns and shapes that appear as an organism forms into a living creature composed of a variety of cell types and organs. Her laboratory models are fruit flies, and her investigations begin in the egg chamber and the laid egg. Among her research interests are cell signals and cell migration critical to development, and the evolution of these processes. In addition, new genomic technologies are enabling her research team to manipulate the timing and location of gene activity within developing fly cells. Berg and her team also have designed a system to obtain live imaging of some of the developmental events that take place. Among Berg鈥檚 overarching goals is to better understand the genetic and molecular dysfunctions that lead to prenatal malformations and other disorders. The hope, Berg says, is that basic research, over the long term, might lead to clinical diagnostics for risk factors and to evaluation of potential treatments. Berg鈥檚 course topics are wide-ranging, and include introductory biology, biomedical ethics and forensic genetics at crime scenes.

, the David R. M. Scott Endowed Professor in Forest Resources and professor of plant microbiology in the 91探花School of Environmental and Forest Sciences, was recognized for distinguished contributions to unraveling mechanisms by which microbes colonize plants, increase plant growth and yields in nutrient-limited conditions, increase water use efficiency and drought tolerance, and improve plant health. Her research is on the importance of the plant microbiome as a resource for nature-based solutions to environmental challenges including pollution, climate change and colonizing the moon. A 91探花faculty member since 2003, she has received several awards and honors including the Lockwood Endowed Professorship (2013-2021), Director鈥檚 Faculty Award for 鈥渆xemplary contributions to student mentoring鈥� and the Faculty Member of the Year award (2014). She serves on the executive teams of the International Poplar Commission (Co-Vice Chair, Environmental and Ecosystem Services) and the International Symbiosis Society (VP, Education). She holds an adjunct faculty appointment in the Department of Microbiology.

, professor of microbiology in 91探花Medicine, was recognized for his distinguished contributions to the field of microbial interactions, particularly with regard to unraveling mechanisms responsible for the formation of surface-attached communities called biofilms. Parsek explores the social biology of bacterial communities. One of his areas of investigation is quorum-sensing 鈥� how bacteria use signaling molecules to sense the presence of others of the same species. This communication system allows them to coordinate their behavior as a group. Another of his related fields of interest is biofilms. These are bacteria that produce an extracellular matrix to bind themselves together. The matrix protects the community and plays a role, for example, in resistance to antimicrobials and antibiotics and in the persistence of chronic infection. Parsek鈥檚 lab studies the composition of this matrix and how it is assembled. They are especially interested in Pseudomonas aeruginosa, which lives in several different environmental niches, but is notorious for infecting the lungs of cystic fibrosis patients and for colonizing burn wounds and growing on implanted biomaterials. In recent work his lab looked at how these bacteria can sense surfaces. A 91探花faculty member since 2011, Parsek is a member of the American Academy of Microbiology and was named a Kavli fellow by the National Academy of Sciences.

, the Lloyd and Kay Chapman Endowed Chair for Oral Health in the 91探花School of Dentistry, was recognized for translating knowledge from the behavioral and social sciences to address the causes of children鈥檚 oral health inequities. In recent years Chi has studied why some parents reject fluoride for their children and worked with Yup鈥檌k communities to improve the oral health of Alaska Native children. In 2018 he was named Pediatric Dentist of the Year by the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry, and in 2025 he received the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE) from President Joe Biden. A member of the 91探花faculty since 2010, Chi is also the associate dean for research in the School of Dentistry and a professor of health systems and population health in the 91探花School of Public Health. He is editor-in-chief the International Journal of Paediatric Dentistry and treats patients at the Odessa Brown Children鈥檚 Clinic in Seattle.

, the Larry R. Dalton Endowed Chair in Chemistry and associate dean for research in the College of Arts & Sciences, is honored for his contributions to the development and application of time-dependent quantum theory and relativistic electronic structure theory, and for advancing educational pathways and diversity in STEM. Li conducts research at the intersection of physics, chemistry, materials science, mathematics and scientific computing, and he has developed widely used computational software. A 91探花faculty member since 2005, Li’s honors include a Sloan Research Fellowship, the NSF CAREER Award, the American Chemical Society Jack Simons Award in Theoretical Physical Chemistry and the 91探花Distinguished Teaching Award. He is a fellow of the American Physical Society (APS) and the Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC), a Lab Fellow at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and an elected member of the Washington State Academy of Sciences.

Over 30 years of dentistry, Sami Dogan has treated just about every kind of tooth ailment. Cavities are simple to fill. Dental implants have become routine. But there鈥檚 one problem, he said, that annoys even the most experienced dentists: hypersensitivity, the painful sensation sparked by contact with hot, cold or acidic food.听听

鈥淲e see patients with hypersensitive teeth, but we can鈥檛 really help them,鈥� said Dogan, a . 鈥淲e have all these repair options available in the market, but they鈥檙e all transient. They focus on treating the symptoms and not addressing the root cause. I see my patients after a couple of weeks, several months, again coming to my practice complaining about the same issue.”听

So a few years ago, Dogan began working with a team of 91探花materials engineers who had set out to develop a natural protocol to rebuild lost tooth minerals, which they believed could also become听permanent fix to this painful condition. Their solution, , builds new mineral microlayers that penetrate deep into the tooth to create effective, long-lasting natural protection.听听

The ultimate goal, Dogan said, is to provide easily accessible relief for the millions of adults worldwide who suffer from tooth sensitivity.听

The painful sensation emerges when acids, like those created after saliva breaks down sugar, wear away at tooth enamel. Uninterrupted, that wear 鈥� called demineralization 鈥� can expose the pathways connecting the tooth鈥檚 hard exterior with its softer interior, dentin and pulp. Nerves and blood vessels are left defenseless, and pain ensues.鈥��听

The body has no way to repair or regrow worn enamel, which is the only non-living tissue in the human body. To reverse that loss, the 91探花researchers designed their solution to be molecularly biomimetic, meaning it closely resembles the molecular processes by which the body develops teeth.听听

At the heart of that process is a peptide 鈥� a short chain of amino acids 鈥� derived from the larger protein amelogenin, which is key in the biological development of human teeth. Named sADP5, the specifically tailored peptide grabs onto calcium and phosphate ions 鈥� the main components of tooth mineral 鈥� and uses them to build new mineral microlayers.

鈥淥ur technology forms the same minerals found in the tooth, including enamel, cementum, and dentin alike, which had dissolved previously through demineralization and caused the sensitivity,鈥� said lead author , who began this work as a postdoctoral researcher at 91探花and is now an assistant professor at the . 鈥淭he newly formed mineral microlayers close the communication channels with the tooth nerves, and then hypersensitivity shouldn鈥檛 be an issue for you.鈥�

The peptide can be integrated into nearly any type of oral health product. In preclinical trials, participants received a dental lozenge the size of a cough drop, with a core of calcium and phosphate coated in a layer of peptide-infused flavoring. Researchers have also designed peptide-based formulations including mouthwash, dental gels, tooth whiteners, and toothpaste.鈥��听

鈥淭here are lots of different design and delivery methods,鈥� said , an assistant teaching professor of materials science and engineering at the 91探花and co-author of the paper. 鈥淭he most important thing is the peptide, the key ingredient in the given formulation, and it鈥檚 working.鈥濃��听

This research was conducted in the at the 91探花under the direction of , a professor of materials science and engineering. Other authors include John Hamann and Eric Hall from the 91探花Department of Materials Science and Engineering. The research was funded by the National Science Foundation, the Washington State Life Sciences Discovery Fund, Gap Funds, and the 91探花Department of Restorative Dentistry’s Spencer Funds.鈥�听

For more information, contact Sarikaya at sarikaya@uw.edu, Fong at hfong@uw.edu, Dogan at samido@uw.edu or Yucesoy at denizyucesoy@iyte.edu.tr. 听

Like many of life鈥檚 challenges, it turns out that dental plaque is all about how you respond.听听

A team of microbiologists, immunologists and periodontists in the 91探花鈥檚 School of Dentistry are expanding upon their recent discovery that people鈥檚 gums respond to plaque with three distinct types of inflammation. The team has received a from the National Institutes of Health to better understand each of听those three responses. 听

The team discovered that people fall into three main types of responses to bacteria in plaque, including a new type of what 91探花microbiologist Jeffrey McLean called 鈥渟low responders.鈥� That discovery added new depth to the field鈥檚 understanding of gingivitis 鈥� the swelling, redness and bleeding in the gums that occurs when plaque builds up on and below the gumline. 听

Left untreated, gingivitis can lead to periodontitis, an irreversible condition that eats away at gum tissue and the bone that supports teeth. Periodontitis has been linked to an increased risk of heart and lung disease and other systemic diseases in humans.听

Gingivitis research could also deepen our understanding of inflammation in the rest of the body, McLean said, which can be difficult to study in real time.听听

鈥淲e think eventually, knowing someone鈥檚 responder type could also relate to their response to other things. Even, potentially, the virus that causes COVID,鈥� said McLean, an associate professor in the Department of Periodontics. 鈥淚f you鈥檙e a certain type of responder, you might have that response to other viral infections, too.鈥� 听

The team will use the new grant to explore the specific mechanisms that control gingival inflammation. Researchers will identify the specific bacteria, fungi, viruses and metabolites associated with different responder types. Then they will attempt to understand what causes such vastly different inflammation responses.听听

鈥淲e don鈥檛 know if it鈥檚 your prior history, or if that鈥檚 your response type. Those are the questions we try to answer eventually,鈥� McLean said. 鈥淏y knowing there鈥檚 three major response types, we can now dig in and find out what makes them different and what鈥檚 the basis of why they鈥檙e responding differently.鈥�听

That research will rely upon the time-tested model of experimental gingivitis 鈥� the only model that allows researchers to create, and immediately reverse, inflammation in healthy human subjects. Participants will undergo a full dental cleaning, and then stop brushing several of their teeth for 21 days. As plaque builds up and inflammation sets in, researchers will take samples from both sides of participants鈥� mouths. After three weeks, participants will receive another cleaning, and the inflammation will recede.听听

Previously, scientists believed there were two types of responses to plaque below the gumline: Some people鈥檚 gums responded to plaque with strong, swift inflammation and redness, while other people鈥檚 gums had a more muted response.听听

In 2021, the researchers . They showed that some people accrue dental plaque much more slowly than others, meaning it takes longer for their gums to become inflamed. Once that inflammation kicks in, however, slow responders鈥� gums become just as inflamed as the strong responders鈥� gums. They also found unique molecular signatures in the other responder types.听

These discoveries open a path to develop treatments and products specifically designed for different response types 鈥� for example, a toothpaste that replicates the bacterial conditions found in slow responders鈥� mouths could help strong responders stave off gingivitis.听

Knowing your specific responder type might also change how you maintain good oral hygiene. Slow responders, for example, may not need to visit a dentist as often as those with stronger, quicker inflammation responses.听听

Those discoveries won the 2022 , given to the year鈥檚 most outstanding research in the field.听听听

This trial will be led by principal investigators McLean and Rich Darveau, with co-investigators Diane Daubert and Yung-Ting Hsu, all of the 91探花School of Dentistry. The trial will be conducted in the 91探花Regional Clinical Dental Research Center in the Health Sciences Building with clinical site investigators Marilynn Rothen and Mary K Hagstrom. The award, from the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research, also includes collaboration with the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio.听

For more information, contact McLean at jsmclean@uw.edu.听

The 91探花 rose from No. 7 to No. 6 on the听, released on Tuesday. The 91探花maintained its No. 2 ranking among U.S. public institutions.

U.S. News also ranked several subjects, and the 91探花placed in the top 10 in 10 subject areas, including immunology (No. 4), molecular biology and genetics (No. 5) and clinical medicine (No. 6).

In another ranking out this week, Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2023 by Subject, six subject areas at the 91探花placed in the top 25.

鈥淎s a global public research university, the UW鈥檚 mission is to create and accelerate change for the public good,鈥� 91探花President Ana Mari Cauce said. 鈥淚鈥檓 proud that these rankings reflect the outstanding and wide-ranging work of our faculty, staff and students to expand knowledge and discovery that is changing people鈥檚 lives for the better, particularly in the health sciences.鈥�

The U.S. News ranking 鈥斕� based on Web of Science data and metrics provided by Clarivate Analytics InCites 鈥� weighs factors that measure a university鈥檚 global and regional research reputation and academic research performance. For the overall rankings, this includes bibliometric indicators such as publications, citations and international collaboration.

The overall Best Global Universities ranking, now in its ninth year, encompasses the top 2,000 institutions spread across 90 countries, according to U.S. News.听American universities make up eight of the top 10 spots.

Here are all the top 10 91探花rankings in U.S. News鈥� subject rankings:

• Immunology 鈥� No. 4
• Molecular biology and genetics 鈥� No. 5
• Clinical medicine 鈥� No. 6
• Geosciences 鈥� No. 7
• Infectious diseases 鈥� No. 7
• Public, environmental and occupational health 鈥� No. 7
• Social sciences and public health 鈥� No. 7
• Biology and biochemistry 鈥� No. 8
• Microbiology 鈥� No. 10

In the rankings, UW鈥檚 programs in these areas placed in the top 25:

• : No. 15
• (includes agriculture and forestry, biological sciences, veterinary science and sport science): No. 16
• (includes medicine, dentistry and other health subjects): No. 17
• (includes communication and media studies, politics and international studies 鈥� including development studies, sociology and geography): No. 18
• (includes mathematics and statistics, physics and astronomy, chemistry, geology, environmental sciences, and Earth and marine sciences): No. 19
• (includes education, teacher training, and academic studies in education): No. 23

The subject tables employ the same used in the overall听; however, the methodology is recalibrated for each subject, with the weightings changed to suit the individual fields.

Eight 91探花 subjects ranked in the top 10 and atmospheric sciences moved to its position as No. 1 in the world on the list for 2022. The ranking, released Tuesday, was conducted by researchers at the ShanghaiRanking Consultancy, a fully independent organization dedicating to research on higher education intelligence and consultation.

Other 91探花subjects in the top 10 include oceanography at No. 2; public health at No. 4; biological sciences, dentistry and oral sciences, education, and library and information sciences at No. 7; and clinical medicine at No. 10.

鈥淭he research听produced by 91探花 faculty, staff and students is critical to听understanding听and addressing global challenges, from climate change to human health,鈥� said President Ana Mari Cauce. “We are gratified and honored to have the incredible impact that 91探花researchers are making across so many disciplines once again recognized by this prestigious organization.”

The group ranked more than 5,000 universities around the world in 54 subjects across natural sciences, engineering, life sciences, medical sciences and social sciences. More information about the methodology used to calculate the rankings can be found .

In 2021, the 91探花was ranked No. 19 on the group鈥檚 annual听听list. This year鈥檚 university ranking has not yet been released.

Note: The subject names below are general descriptions from the ranking website, and not necessarily the names of the 91探花unit ranked.

Dr. Ritter will replace , who is retiring for health reasons.

Currently a professor in New York University鈥檚 College of Dentistry, Dr. Ritter has extensive clinical experience in various settings, from private practice to community public health clinics. He has served as executive dean of the University of North Carolina鈥檚 Adams School of Dentistry, as well as chair of the Department of Cariology and Comprehensive Care at NYU. He maintains a private dental faculty practice through NYU, as he did for 18 years at UNC.

鈥淥ver the past few years under Dean Gary Chiodo鈥檚 leadership, the School of Dentistry has made significant progress in addressing its financial challenges. And, with Dr. Ritter鈥檚 impressive record of leadership in the clinical realm, we are confident that he will continue to improve the School鈥檚 facilities and revenue models and advance the School鈥檚 long-term financial picture,鈥� Richards said. 鈥淭hroughout the interview process, Dr. Ritter expressed his commitment to strengthening the 91探花dental community, both within and beyond the University, and we look forward to supporting his work in that.鈥�

The 91探花School of Dentistry is widely recognized as one of the top programs in the country and the world. The school, established in 1945, has a strong foundation steeped in research, clinical care, education and service.

鈥淒entistry is rapidly evolving, and schools and programs have to adapt and innovate to be successful,鈥� Dr. Ritter said. 鈥淭o lead the 91探花School of Dentistry and further elevate its status as a leader in global oral healthcare education, innovation, research and care delivery, and to do so while advancing the mission of one of the world鈥檚 preeminent public universities, is an unparalleled opportunity.鈥�

As department chair at NYU, Dr. Ritter led 300 faculty members and was responsible for staffing at all dental clinics and 14 group practices. He created and facilitated diversity, equity and inclusion open forums and trainings, and led his department through COVID-19 accommodations and modifications to ensure that students could take courses required for graduation and promotion.

At UNC, where Dr. Ritter oversaw a school-wide operational budget of $70 million, he was responsible for IT; human resources; diversity, equity and inclusion; faculty development; clinical compliance and infection control; institutional effectiveness; facilities and infrastructure; faculty promotion and tenure; wellness; continuing education; and dental faculty practice board. Dr. Ritter also served as chair of the UNC Department of Operative Dentistry and led the department through its successful 2017 CODA accreditation site visit.

His research interests include diagnosis and management of tooth decay, conservative and minimally invasive restorative dentistry, esthetics, dental adhesion and composite resin applications.

Dr. Ritter earned his Doctor of Dental Surgery from Federal University of Santa Catarina in Brazil, his Master of Science in operative dentistry from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, his Master of Business Administration in health-care administration from Northeastern University in Boston, and his doctorate in dentistry from Universidade Positivo in Brazil.

You and your dentist have a lot of tools and techniques for stopping cavities, but detecting the specific chemical conditions that can lead to cavities and then preventing them from ever getting started is much harder. Now, in a new , 91探花 researchers have shown that a dental tool they created can measure the acidity built up by the bacteria in plaque that leads to cavities.

The O-pH system is a prototype optical device that emits an LED light and measures the reactions of that light, the fluorescence, with an FDA-approved chemical dye applied to teeth. The O-pH then produces a numerical reading of the pH, or acidity, of the plaque covering those teeth. Knowing how acidic the plaque is can tell dentists and patients what area of a tooth is most at risk of developing a cavity.

鈥淧laque has a lot of bacteria that produce acid when they interact with the sugar in our food,鈥� said , lead author and a doctoral student in the 91探花Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering. 鈥淭his acid is what causes the corrosion of the tooth surface and eventually cavities. So, if we can capture information about the acidic activity, we can get an idea of how bacteria are growing in the dental biofilm, or plaque.鈥�

Sharma explained that not all bacteria in that biofilm are bad or will lead to cavities, so measuring the acidity of the environment can tell a dentist what they need to know about the threat of developing problems. That can limit the need to test for specific harmful bacteria, of which there can be a multitude.

To test their device, the researchers recruited 30 patients between the ages of 10 and 18, with a median age of 15, in the 91探花School of Dentistry鈥檚 . The researchers chose kids for their study in large part because the enamel on kids鈥� teeth is much thinner than that of adults, so getting early warning of acid erosion is even more important. To perform the measurements with the O-pH device, the researchers also recruited second- and third-year students in the dentistry school, who were supervised by a faculty member.

The test is non-invasive. While the dye is applied to the teeth, at the end of a length of cord is the probe that transmits and collects light while hovering over the surface of a tooth (see photos). The collected light travels back to a central box that provides a pH reading. The conditions on the patients鈥� teeth were read several times before and after sugar rinses and other condition changes, such as pre- and post-professional dental cleaning.

, senior author and research professor of mechanical engineering in the 91探花College of Engineering, said the idea for adding the acidity test as a new clinical procedure came from envisioning that when a patient first sits in the dental chair, before their teeth get cleaned, 鈥渁 dentist would rinse them with the tasteless fluorescent dye solution and then get their teeth optically scanned to look for high acid production areas where the enamel is getting demineralized.鈥�

The was published in February in IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering. The research team reported that one limitation to their study was being unable to consistently measure the same location on each tooth during each phase of testing. To address this limitation, in particular, the researchers are evolving their device to a version that produces images for dentists that instantly show the exact location of high acidity, where the next cavity may occur.

鈥淲e do need more results to show how effective it is for diagnosis, but it can definitely help us understand some of your oral health quantitatively,鈥� said Sharma. 鈥淚t can also help educate patients about the effects of sugar on the chemistry of plaque. We can show them, live, what happens, and that is an experience they鈥檒l remember and say, OK, fine, I need to cut down on sugar!鈥�

Co-authors include Lauren Lee, 91探花Department of Microbiology; Matthew Carson, 91探花Human Photonics Laboratory; David Park, Se An, Micah Bovenkamp, Jess Cayetano, Ian Berude, Zheng Xu, Alireza Sadr, 91探花School of Dentistry; and Shwetak Patel, 91探花Electrical & Computer Engineering and the Paul G. Allen School of Computer Science & Engineering. This research was funded by the National Science Foundation, Oral Health Monitor, Institute of Translational Health Sciences; and the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences of the National Institutes of Health.

###

For more information, contact Seibel at eseibel@uw.edu.

The 91探花 is among the best universities in the world for the studies of health and life sciences, according to the Times Higher Education World University Rankings by Subject 2022.

The rankings, released , looked at four overall disciplines: , , and .

In physical sciences, the 91探花ranked No. 21 in the world, third among U.S. public institutions. Physical sciences includes mathematics and statistics; physics and astronomy; chemistry; and geology, environmental, earth and marine sciences.

The 91探花was among 107 debut institutions this year on the life sciences list, coming in at No. 18, or third place among U.S. public universities. This topic includes agriculture and forestry; biological sciences; veterinary science; and sports science.

For the psychology ranking, the 91探花placed among the top 10 U.S. public institutions, and No. 31 in the world. Psychology includes psychology; educational/sport/business/animal psychology; and clinical psychology.

And, finally, for the clinical & health rankings, the 91探花placed No. 21, or third among U.S. public institutions. This discipline includes medicine and dentistry; and other health subjects.

The rankings included 1,523 universities from 98 countries and regions. The subject tables employ the same range of听听used in the overall听, however, the overall methodology is recalibrated for each subject, with the weightings changed to suit the individual fields.