Microbiological Characterisations of Dental Implants with Anti-infective and Photo-active Coating

The research will focus on engineering anti-infective and photoactive coating of standard dental implants, which are made from Ti-alloys. The anti-infective/photoactive coatings will be designed using fluorapatite minerals. Coating will be carried out using spin coating and laser sintering. The properties of implants will be characterised using hardness measurements, FTIR, Raman, UV-Visible, Photoluminescence, oximetric measurements using the characterisations of oxyhaemoglobin and deoxy-haemoglobin. The coated implants will be tested in osteoblast, endothelial cell cultures and also co-cultured with anaerobic/aerobic bacteria for the identification active proteins in situ. The materials characterisations will be carried out using X-ray diffraction, TEM/SEM, and laser confocal microscopy.

The project training will also include writing reports of professional standards, and giving presentations in the group, leading the project.