ADVANCING THE INTERSECTION OF DENTISTRY, ENGINEERING
IN PARTNERSHIP WITH PENN ENGINEERING, THE CENTER FOR INNOVATION & PRECISION DENTISTRY (CiPD) IS BRINGING ENGINEERING APPROACHES TO ADDRESS UNMET ORAL HEALTH NEEDS A BABY BOTTLE FOR CHILDREN born with cleft palate. Chewing gum to break up plaque and prevent tooth decay — or even COVID-19. A mouth guard that can detect infectious particles in saliva.
OPPOSITE: Dr. Hyun (Michel) Koo of Penn Dental Medicine and Dr. Kathleen Stebe of Penn’s School of Engineering and Applied Science co-direct the Center for Innovation & Precision Dentistry (CiPD).
Through the Center for Innovation & Precision Dentistry (CiPD), these and other creative approaches to solving oral-health-related challenges have the potential to move from idea to reality. The Center, launched in January of this year, already has been awarded a major training grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), received and presented awards for new technologies, and published papers on the new findings. Plus, it has established a network of partners across the University and beyond to push each other forward in studying and developing solutions to pressing challenges in oral health care. “Today, 3.5 billion people still have oral diseases that are preventable, such as tooth decay and periodontal disease,” says Dr. Hyun (Michel) Koo, CiPD’s Co-Director and Professor in Penn Dental Medicine’s
Department of Orthodontics and Divisions of Pediatrics and Community Oral Health. “We need to come up with more precise, more effective approaches to target the people who need them the most and make sure they’re accessible and affordable.” To accelerate progress toward helping with these and other oral health conditions, Dr. Koo conceived and brought to fruition the CiPD in partnership with Dr. Kathleen Stebe of Penn’s School of Engineering and Applied Science. The effort unites the two schools — and the respective expertise and resources within them — to support ideas that can transform oral-craniofacial care and usher in new clinical treatments and preventive strategies to safeguard health. “This partnership between Penn Engineering and Penn Dental Medicine will advance new paradigms to attack oral health
PENN DENTAL MEDICINE JOURNAL | FALL 2021 11
