Oral and Mucosal Immunology

Catalog description

This course is designed to improve students’ understanding of the basic immunology with a focus on oral and mucosal immunology. We live in a world full of microbes yet we remain in good health mostly! There are two types of microbes, pathogens and commensals. Pathogens cause disease whereas commensals do not. A large number of commensals reside in oral mucosal areas and on other parts of the body. These commensals traditionally have a symbiotic relationship with us. Y et, at certain time points many of these oral commensals turn into pathogens due to ecological imbalance leading to development of oral mucosal inflammation and resultant diseases such as caries and periodontitis. Additionally, contact-mediated type I and type IV hypersensitivity reactions frequently observed in dental practice will also be reviewed in the context of oral mucosal inflammation. 3 credit hours, didactic MBS674 - Intraoral Drug Delivery Systems/Technologies for Dental Drug Delivery This course will begin with an introduction and overview of oral biology. The oral cavity is a complex environment which communicates with the external environment, the upper respiratory tract, and the digestive system. A wide variety of microorganisms are present in the oral cavity, including bacteria, such as Streptococcus mutans (S. mutans), Lactobacillus spp. (P . gingivalis), and fungi such as Candida albicans. Students will learn various routes of administration of intraoral drug delivery, such as oral, mucosal, buccal, sublingual etc. Students will then be introduced to various drug delivery systems and technologies specific for intraoral drug delivery such as hydrogels, nanoparticles, polymeric particles, nanofibers and films along with the advantages/disadvantages of each of these systems. Along with this, there will be comprehensive discussion of various classes of drugs/medications (such as…