ChEMS Professor Wins Best Presentation Award at MSC.Software® 2011 Users Conference

James Earthman awarded Best Presentation in University and Research

Professor James C. Earthman, Ph.D., Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science with a joint appointment in the Department of Biomedical Engineering, won “Best Presentation” in the University and Research track at the MSC.Software Corporation®2011 Users Conference held in Costa Mesa, Calif. in early October 2011.

Earthman’s presentation “Numerical Modeling of Dental Percussion Diagnostics using Marc” featured the use of Periometer® diagnostic instrumentation in discovering fractures in teeth. Earthman’s research proves that fractures in teeth can be detected by percussion probe diagnostics.  Future research will be targeted at evaluating percussion response data to determine exactly how these data indicate the severity and position of fractures.  These advancements would also provide critical diagnostic information for a dental clinician.  Some of the most difficult clinical diagnoses in dentistry today are determining whether a tooth contains a fracture, quantifying the severity of the fracture and identifying the location of the fracture in order to then assess the potential restorability. Fractures below the gum line or within non-translucent restorations cannot even be detected using conventional technologies.  

The Periometer has also been found to be helpful in detecting failing or failed restorations, such as those due to cement leakage/breakdown, recurrent decay, structural fractures or other stability defects. It allows the operator to diagnose in an entirely new dimension and gives information not available in x-rays or found by careful clinical examination.



The Periometer instrumentation is produced by Perimetrics, LLC, a company co-founded by Earthman and Dr. Cherilyn Sheets of the Newport Coast Oral-Facial Institute.