Dentistry professor wins IADR Innovation in Oral Care Award

By Rachel Boutet

Professor Yoav Finer, who holds the George Zarb/Nobel Bio Care Chair in Prosthodontics, was recently honoured with a 2022 IADR Innovation in Oral Care Award. This $50,000USD will be used for the project, “Drug self-assembled nanocomposite loaded adhesive for the management of denture stomatitis”.

The project aims to design and evaluate a novel over-the-counter (OTC) denture adhesive system with anti-microbial/anti-fungal capability. Denture Stomatitis (DS) affects millions of denture users each year, with significant systemic health impacts for those with compromised immune systems. The treatment of DS represents a large health burden, and current OTC products aiming to inhibit the growth of bacteria and fungi on dentures and adjacent mucosa have limited effect. Novel solutions to address this microbial growth, and therefore DS, are of great clinical significance.

Finer will partner with Cameron Stewart, CEO of Mesosil, a commercial lab spin-off company, to assist in designing and evaluating the developed denture adhesive. Mesosil has the translational expertise to further commercialize the successful results of the study, advancing the technology towards clinical adoption.

Photo: Yoav Finer and Cameron Stewart (Jeff Comber)