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Contact Details

Phone
64 3 479 7122
Email
karl.lyons@otago.ac.nz

University Links

Position
Professor and Specialist Prosthodontist, Deputy Dean (Clinical), and Associate Dean (Admissions), Faculty of Dentistry
Department
Department of Oral Rehabilitation
Qualifications
MDS CertMaxillofacialPros PhD FRACDS
Research summary
Prosthodontics

Research

Professor Lyons has carried out research in dental implants and materials and in microbial adhesion to dental obturator prostheses, particularly adhesion of C. albicans and S. epidermidis. The latter was the topic of his PhD, which was awarded in 2012. Dental obturator prostheses can restore surgical resection defects in the maxilla of patients who have had surgery to remove cancer in the palate or sinuses, but microbial adhesion, especially C. albicans, to these prostheses reduces the lifetime of the prosthesis and can affect the health of these patients, particularly during radiotherapy.

Professor Lyons' research has included both clinical and laboratory research. The most significant clinical findings have been:

  1. During head and neck radiotherapy there are large and rapid increases in microbial colonisation and a very high C. albicans colonisation count at the end of week one of radiotherapy can be used as a predictor for the need for anti-fungal treatment (and frequently hospitalisation) to manage oral complication from radiotherapy.
  2. Microbial colonisation of obturators increases during prosthodontic treatment, and during up to 10 years of follow-up, until a new obturator prosthesis is provided to a patient suggesting obturator prostheses should be relined or remade regularly.

Significant laboratory findings have been:

  1. The influence saliva has on either increasing or reducing microbial adhesion.
  2. Identifying a salivary protein that C. albicans adheres to. This research has been carried out with Professor Richard Cannon, Professor Robert Love and Dr Ann Holmes.

Professor Lyons has also been collaborating with DClinDent students with a research emphasis on clinical and in vitro research in the areas of implant prosthodontics and dental materials, particularly ceramics.

Publications

Lyons, K. M., Love, R. M., Beumer, III, J., Bakr, M. M., & Cannon, R. D. (2026). The effect of saliva on the adhesion of Candida albicans to prosthodontic obturator materials. Oral, 6(1), 13. doi: 10.3390/oral6010013 Journal - Research Article

Badarneh, A., Choi, J. J. E., Ratnayake, J., Lyons, K., Waddell, J. N., Li, K. C., & Khurshid, Z. (2026). The evolution of high-strength ceramics: The role of microstructure and manufacturing. European Journal of General Dentistry. Advance online publication. doi: 10.1055/s-0046-1815915 Journal - Research Other

Loch, C., Brunton, P., Moffat, S., Aarts, J., Carrington, S., Lyons, K., Gray, A., … Williman, J., … Crampton, P. (2026). Sociodemographic characteristics of Aotearoa New Zealand oral health students: Do student cohorts reflect the society they will serve? Journal of the Royal Society of New Zealand, 56, e70003. doi: 10.1002/snz2.70003 Journal - Research Article

He, J., Chen, L., Tian, J., Yang, Y., Meng, J., Meng, Q., Lyons, K., & Mei, M. L. (2025). Effect of NaOCl or EDTA pretreatments on the shear bond strength of the resin-infiltrated white spot lesions to the resin composite: An in vitro study. BMC Oral Health, 25, 1494. doi: 10.1186/s12903-025-06900-8 Journal - Research Article

Veerasamy, A., Lyons, K., Crabtree, I., Ratnayake, J., & Brunton, P. (2025). Need assessment to incorporate geriatric oral health care education in New Zealand nursing curricula: A narrative review study. International Journal of Dentistry. Advance online publication. doi: 10.1155/ijod/9351150 Journal - Research Other

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