The IADR Unilever Hatton Competition and Award is designed to provide an opportunity for the best junior investigators from all IADR Divisions and Sections to present their research at the annual IADR General Session.

Post Doc Dylan presented his research on “Rapid Bacterial Detection during Endodontic Treatment” and was awarded the Senior Clinical Unilever Hatton Award, with a prize of $1600.  The research was delivered in the form of an oral 10 minute presentation followed by a 5 minute question and answer session.

“Having spent my PhD working on this project, it was a great honour to receive this award,” he comments. Dylan’s first paper on this work has just been published in the Journal of Dental Research, one of the most prestigious dental journals.

The research was based on methodology for chair side detection of remnant vital bacteria in the root canal space following endodontic treatment. The use of paper point sampling and vital fluorescent stains with spectral analysis promises a rapid and user-friendly technique. Successful detection and removal of residual bacteria may lead to a decrease in persistent infections and re-treatments. The methodology described allowed for rapid (< 5 min) and sensitive detection of bacteria remaining in the root canal apex, which was demonstrated during a clinical trial. Ongoing studies including patient recalls one year post-treatment are showing the correlation between detection of residual bacteria and treatment failure.

Dylan has been supervised in his studies by Dr Frederic Festy, Professor Francesco Mannocci and Professor Tim Watson and was awarded his PhD last year. He is currently employed as a Post Doc in the Tissue Engineering and Biophotonics Division at the King’s College London Dental Institute