Margherita Fontana, DDS, PhD, holds the position of Associate Professor
(tenured) in the Department of Preventive and Community Dentistry at Indiana University School of Dentistry. She serves as Director of the
Microbial Caries Model Facility, which is part of the Oral Health Research Institute; she is director of the new
Oral
Biofilms in Caries Assessment and Management Research Program within her Department, and is also Director of
Predoctoral Education for her Department. After receiving her dental degree from the Universidad Central de Venezuela
(UCV), Caracas, Venezuela, in 1990, Dr. Fontana worked as a Research Assistant in the Dental Research Institute, Dental School, UCV for two years, while she also worked in private practice. She then moved to the United States to pursue her research interests, and in 1996 completed a four-year PhD program in Dental Sciences at Indiana University, Indianapolis, IN. As a principal investigator, she has received research grants from the National Institutes of Health,
the American Association of Pediatric Dentistry, the Delta Dental Fund, and private industry. Dr. Fontana has lectured as an invited speaker in different countries being recognized for her work in the field of
Cariology, and is currently teaching several lectures related to Cariology in the DDS and Dental Hygiene Programs and in several Master and PhD Graduate
Programs. She has also been an active participant in the Problem Based Learning aspects of the Curriculum. She
was the first president for the Indiana Chapter of the Hispanic Dental Association, and has been a member for many years of the International Association for Dental Research, the European Organization for Caries Research
(ORCA), and the American Society for Microbiology. She is the
2007-2008 President of the Cariology group of the IADR and the 2007-2008
Chair-elect of the ADEA Cariology Special interest Group.
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| Research and
Educational Interests: |
Dr. Fontana's
clinical research interests relate primarily to her current funding in the
effect of xylitol chewing gum by mothers and its effect on the bacterial
flora of their infants, caries risk assessment in underserved toddlers
(including effects of health literacy), and recently on dental sealants.
Research
interests are related to Caries Research. Extensively involved in
developing a new methodology using the confocal microscope to quantify
minerals lost and gained in the caries process. Developed an in vitro
microbial caries model which is used to study primary, secondary and root
caries. The model is also used extensively for contract testing of
anticariogenic agents (e.g., toothpastes) and dental materials. The model
is currently being modified to develop more complex biofilms and to test
the effect of anticaries agents on these biofilms characteristics.
Involved in the isolation of Streptococcus mutans fimbriae and their role
in bacterial adhesion and uses of antibodies against the several bacterial
components for caries prevention.
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