Ms Tina Hauman

Research

Tina Hauman is researching the determination of bacterial viability in dentine by fluorescence. A novel technique, using live-dead stain and confocal microscopy, has been developed for ex vivo determination of bacterial infiltration, distribution and viability in dentinal tubules. This technique has been applied to test the efficacy of different disinfection methods on resected root-end cavities and has possible clinical implications for apical surgery.

Another study used this method to detect viable bacteria in the dentinal tubules of teeth from different age groups, showing that younger teeth have a denser bacterial infiltrate near the canal lumen, with a decrease in bacterial load from coronal to apical along the tooth root. These roots were then examined under the scanning electron microscope; dentinal tubules were counted to correlate the bacterial density with dentinal tubule density along the root length and in roots from different age groups. This research is related to patient care and treatment outcome.