Designing Bioactive Polymeric Materials For Restorative Dentistry

Mary Anne S. Melo, DDS, MSc, PhD FADM, is an Associate Professor and Division Director of Operative Dentistry at the School of Dentistry, University of Maryland, Baltimore, Maryland. Dr. Melo attended dental school at the University of Fortaleza, Brazil, completed a residency in operative dentistry, master’s and PhD at the Federal University of Ceara, and pursued fellowship training in dental materials at the University of Maryland before joining the operative faculty. Dr. Melo is a clinician, researcher, and educator. In her teaching work, she directs and participates in restorative dentistry predoctoral and post- graduate courses and mentors students in master’s and PhD research projects. Her main areas of research focus primarily on (1) oral biofilm control with nanotechnologies by investigating anti-biofilm nanotechnologies for the oral healthcare field, (2) biofilm modeling with the development of new in vitro caries/biofilm models, (3) evaluation of the antimicrobial proper- ties of biomaterials, and (4) translational research for the development of clinically relevant therapeutic strategies for the control of dental caries. She has written over 100 peer-review scientific articles and serves as an ad hoc reviewer and participates in the editorial board of several scientific journals in dentistry, medicine, and biomaterials. Dr. Melo is a fellow of the Academy of Dental Materials and a member of the Academy of Operative Dentistry, the International Association for Dental Research, the Society for Color and Appearance in Dentistry, and the American Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry. Dr. Melo’s unique qualifications as a researcher with clinical and materials science perspectives have successfully aligned her role for advances to the dental field.

1. An Introduction to Bioactivity via Restorative Dental Materials 2. Current Status and Role of Dental Polymeric Restorative Materials 3. Impact of Dental Caries on Survival of Polymeric Restorations 4. Interactions between Oral Bacteria and Antibacterial Polymer-Based Restorative Materials 5. Biomaterial, Host, and Microbial Interactions: Factors to Consider When Developing Resin-Based Restorative Materials 6. Advances in the Development of Antibacterial Composites 7. Nanotechnology and Delivery System for Bioactive Antibiofilm Dental Materials 8. Antibacterial, pH Neutralizing, and Remineralizing Fillers in Polymeric Restorative Materials 9. Methods for Characterization of Bioactivity Using Confocal Microscopy 10. Quantum Dots as Biointeractive and Non-Agglomerated Nanoscale Fillers for Dental Resins