Xiaoming Xu, Ph.D. Head, Division of Biomaterials Director of Biomaterials Research Professor   LSUHSC School of Dentistry Department of Comprehensive Dentistry & Biomaterials 1100 Florida Ave. Box 501 New Orleans, LA 70119 Tel:  504-941-8231 (Office) Fax:  504-941-8265 E-mail:  xxu@lsuhsc.edu

The Division of Biomaterials in the Department of Comprehensive Dentistry and Biomaterials is responsible for teaching and research in biomaterials and dental materials. Dental materials courses are offered to undergraduate dental, dental hygiene, and dental technology students. An advanced dental materials course is offered to residents and fellows. The division supports Advanced Education programs and the research activities of faculty, students, and residents in the school. It has several laboratories located on the sixth, seventh, and eighth floors of the Clinic Building in the LSUHSC School of Dentistry, with a total space of over 3000 square feet. The laboratories are equipped with state-of-the-art analytical and testing instruments. Currently the division has one faculty member, Dr. Xu, and four postdoctoral research associates.

The research areas in the Division of Biomaterials include:

1. Development of novel dental and biological materials that have functionalities of caries-inhibiting, antibacterial, or remineralization as well as excellent physical and mechanical properties. These materials include dental composites, nanocomposites, sealants, bonding agents, cements, etc.
2. Interaction between dental materials, tooth structures, and oral bacterial biofilms.
3. Fabrication of functional and crosslinked polymer nanofibers for tissue engineering and other biological applications.
4. Novel biomimetic remineralization materials and agents for treatment and prevention of early carious lesions.
5. In vitro testing and evaluation of dental and biological materials, including mechanical test, bonding test, wear and surface roughness test, thermal analysis, microscopy, fatigue test, and polymerization shrinkage test.
6. Chemical analysis of the release of small molecules (monomers, fluoride, calcium, phosphate, and antimicrobials) from the dental materials and biomaterials.

These projects are funded from several sources (NIH/NIDCR, private foundation, and industries). The LSUHSC Biomaterials Laboratory is also collaborating with researchers at other universities in the U.S.

The Division of Biomaterials has the following major equipment (manufacturer):

1. Mechanical testing
   • Instron 5566 Universal Testing Machine (Instron)
   • MTS Landmark Bionix 858 Testing Machine (MTS)
   • Microtensile tester (BISCO)
   • Micromet 5104 Hardness Tester (Buehler)
2. Chemical analysis
   • nanoACQUITY UPLC / Synapt HDMS Q-IM-TOF  mass spectrometer (Waters)
   • HP1100 Liquid Chromatography (Agilent) / Esquire 3000 Ion Trap Mass Spectrometer (Bruker Daltonics)
   • Nexus 670 FT-IR Spectrometer (Thermo-Nicolet)
   • Lambda 40 UV-Vis spectrometer (PerkinElmer)
   • Trace DSQ Gas Chromatography/ Mass Spectrometer (GC/MS) (Thermo-Finnigan)
   • EA Flash 1112 Elemental Analyzer (EA)
   • BioLC-650 Ion Chromatography (Dionex)
3. Microscopy
   • S-2700 Scanning Electron Microscope (Hitachi) with EDS and digital image capability (Thermo-Noran)
   • MultiMode Atomic Force Microscope (Veeco)
   • Nikon i50 polarizing light microscope (Nikon) with SPOT Insight digital camera  (Diagnostic Instrument)
   • Nikon Microphot-SA polarizing light microscope (Nikon)
4. Thermal analysis and rheology
   • Q20 DSC, Q600 DSC/TGA, Q400 TMA, Q800 DMA (TA Instrument)
   • ARES Rheometer (TA Instrument)
5. Wear test and surface analysis
   • Oral Simulating Posterior Composite Wear Test Apparatus (Sabri Dental Research)
   • TalyScan 150 3D Surface Profiler (Taylor Hobson)
6. Particle size analysis
   • Microtrac S3500 Particle Size Analyzer (Microtrac)
   • NanoTrac® 250 Particle Size Analyzer (Microtrac)
7. Material preparation
   • Accutom-50 section machine (Struers)
   • Thermo-Cycling Test Instrument (Sabri Dental Research)
   • LaboPol-5 grinding machine (Struers)
   • SpeedMixer DAC 150 FVZ (FlackTek)
8. Polymerization shrinkage
   • AccuVol (BISCO)
9. Color index and gloss index
   • Chroma Meter CR-400 (Konica Minolta)
   • NOVO-CURE Gloss meter (Rhopoint Instrumentation)
10. High temperature furnaces
    • Lindberg/Blue M tube furnace (Thermo Scientific)
    • Thermolyne Box furnace (Thermo Scientific)
11. Chemical Reactors
    • Pressure Reaction Apparatus, 500 ML (Parr Instrument)
    • Microwave Accelerated Reaction System, MARS (CEM)

 Click here for a list of full-time faculty members in the Division of Biomaterials.