Meet our visiting PhD student Javier
I am a PhD candidate at Complutense University in Madrid, Spain. My background is dentistry, and specialized in the field of periodontology and implant dentistry. My university and thesis director, Mariano Sanz, provided me the opportunity to do a research stay at the Department of Biomaterials at University of Oslo. I am working on strategies to overcome the increasing problem of peri-implantitis and my PhD project focuses on investigating therapeutic strategies to resolve an already established peri-implantitis defect and developing new implant surfaces that may reduce the probability of developing this disease.
What has he learned during his stay in Oslo?
While I was at the Department of Biomaterials, I assessed the bone-to-implant contact and bone loss around a new implant surface that may be resistent to peri-implantitis. This new surface was tested in an experimental animal model for peri-implantitis. After the experiment, we retrieved the samples and brought them to the Department of Biomaterials at UiO to analyse them in depth with the nanoCT technology. This provided 3D information such as real full 360º bone loss and 360º bone-to-implant contact in the surface of the tested implants.
The laboratory at Department of Biomaterials in Oslo has really impressive facilities with all kinds of technologies available to analyse this type of samples. Combining this with very efficient technicians and very nice multicultural people creates a perfect environment to not only get beautiful results but also enjoy doing science!
Photos by Florian Weber / UiO