This exciting event brings together dental researchers, providers and students to showcase the latest research findings in oral health care, oral biology, and more. The day is designed to promote discussion, collaboration and education to celebrate research and facilitate the translation of research findings into clinical practice.
Research Day’s oral presentations and poster sessions highlight a wide range of topics related to dental research. You will have the opportunity to collaborate with researchers and network with other professionals in the field.
Register for Upcoming Sessions
March 6, 2026 9:00 am - March 6, 2026 3:00 pm
All times for all events are in local Central Time.
Coffman Memorial Union
300 Washington Avenue SE
Minneapolis, MN 55455
Great Hall, main floor
Course Number: CF5915
About the 2026 Research and Discovery Day
Mechanistic Link Between Cardiovascular Diseases and Periodontal Inflammation
Join our keynote speaker, Dr. Hatice Hasturk as she addresses cardiovascular disease—the leading cause of morbidity and mortality in the U.S.—and its relationship to oral health. You will explore the mechanics of atherosclerosis, a chronic inflammatory condition characterized by lipid accumulation in blood vessels.
What you will learn:
- Risk Factors: How recent epidemiological studies identify periodontitis as an independent risk factor for cardiovascular disease.
- Mechanisms: How periodontal disease induces chronic inflammation in surrounding tissues, potentially worsening atherosclerosis through systemic inflammation.
- Plaque Vulnerability: The role inflammation plays in determining the vulnerability of vascular plaques, the rupture of which triggers heart attacks and strokes.
- New Therapeutics: Emerging findings on active lipid mediators, such as lipoxins and resolvins, and their potential to resolve inflammation and restore homeostasis.
Unique Spatial Organization Promotes Local Immunity at the Oral Barrier
Dr. Williams will unveil a comprehensive multi-omics spatial map of the human oral mucosa, revealing a highly organized system of immune zonation.
What you will learn:
- Structural Defense: How the tooth interface is protected by distinct layers of neutrophils and APC-lymphocyte aggregates.
- Adaptation in Disease: How this structural organization is preserved and evolves during inflammatory disease, transforming zones into tertiary lymphoid structures for local antibody production.
- Barrier Integrity: Evidence suggesting the oral barrier possesses unique, tissue-specific wiring designed to maintain integrity under constant microbial pressure.
Dental Patient-reported Outcomes: Current Use and Gaps in Dental Hygiene Research and Education
Dr. Paulson will review results from a national survey of dental hygiene educators regarding the use of dental patient-reported outcomes (dPROs).
What you will learn:
- Identifying Gaps: How dPROs are often underused in current curricula and the resulting gap between traditional clinical measures and patients’ lived experiences.
- Barriers to Change: The key barriers to implementing dPROs in education.
- Future Integration: Why broader integration of dPROs is a vital step toward advancing patient-centered, outcomes-driven dental hygiene education.
An Evidentiary Pluralism Approach to Studying Oxymetazoline in Pulp Therapy
Dr. Jones provides updates on managing deep caries in primary dentition, focusing on vital pulp therapy techniques and clinical decision-making.
What you will learn:
- New Frameworks: The concept of "Evidentiary Pluralism," an assessment approach from the EBM+ movement useful for evaluating the safety and efficacy of off-label drug use.
- Clinical Application: Research supporting the off-label use of oxymetazoline-based nasal sprays to achieve pulpal hemostasis prior to pulp capping in primary teeth.
Scaling the Biofilm: Oral Sampling Challenges
Dr. Johnstone will help you discover more about the "Project MIGHTY" (Microbe/Phage Investigation for Generalized Health TherapY), a massive collaboration uniting scientists from the University of Minnesota, Ginkgo Bioworks, and other major universities.
What you will learn:
- Systemic Connections: How bacterial imbalances in the oral microbiome drive tooth decay and gum disease, while linking to cardiovascular disease, Type 2 diabetes, and various cancers.
- Phage Technology: How the team is developing tools to rapidly identify and deploy phages that selectively remove disease-causing bacteria, allowing protective microbes to thrive.
Training Methods
Illustrated lectures, discussion, case studies and poster presentations