Oral physiology
Oral cavity is constantly challenged by bacteria and inflammation in dental tissue is therefore common. The inflammatory processes due to bacteria load result in dental tissue destruction and may cause extensive soft and hard tissue damage.
Main content
Periodontitis is a common inflammatory disease with the characteristic of bone loss and it represents the most prevalent form of bone pathology in humans. Our group has contributed to the study of inflammatory processes in dental tissues by investigated nervous, vascular and immunological responses during disease development.
The current focus of our group is on lymphatic function in dental tissues. The lymphatic system forms a vessel network in the interstitium and drains excess filtered fluid and proteins from the interstitium and return it to the blood. In addition, it serves an important role in the body’s immune defense since activated antigen presenting cells traffic lymphatic vessels for key immune responses, and therefore it represents an important link between the vasculature and the immune system. We have recently mapped the lymphatic system in rodent dental tissues and we further investigate dental lymphatic function in health and disease. Our group aim to do translational research as we combine in our studies animal models with human tissue samples in collaboration with the The Department of Clinical Dentistry.