Virginia Commonwealth University

Research

Image of pediatric dentistry residents at VCU Clinic and Research day

The Department of Pediatric Dentistry has a well established framework of research priorities for conducting research in a wide variety of fields to improve the oral health of children. The department's research focuses across themes such as:

  1. Pediatric Oral Health Disparities
  2. Oral Health Care in Medicine
  3. Pediatric Dental Anesthesiology

The department is currently involved in research in areas of child health services research, pediatric sedation and anethesia, infant oral health and early childhood caries, and clinical studies. Faculty, residents and dental students are all actively involved in interdisciplinary research projects. The department and its faculty, resident, and students have been the recipient of several institutional, state, and federal grants and awards.

More specifically current-ongoing studies examine healthcare disparities in the oral health delivered to low-income young children, preventive infant oral health care in medical settings, and costs effectiveness studies of publicly financed programs.

Faculty Research Areas

Tegwyn H. Brickhouse - Interim Chair
Research Interests: Oral Health Disparities and Health Services Research, Pediatric Oral Health Performance Measures, utilization of dental services in public programs, the delivery of oral health services in medical settings, Early Childhood Caries Prevention and Infant Oral Health.
John H. Unkel - Graduate Program Director
Research Interests: Health Policy and Graduate Medical Education Administration, pediatric pharmacologic interventions and clinical trials.

Awards and Grants

Faculty

2009 PI: Tegwyn Brickhouse, Dentsply Resident Research Grant
2009 PI: Tegwyn Brickhouse, Perinatal Influences on the Incidence of Early Childhood Caries in Richmond Healthy Start Infants. VCU Institute for Women's Health Community Based Participatory Research Seed Grant.
2005-2009 PI: Tegwyn H. Brickhouse- Oral Health Disparities in Publicly Insured Children. 1K22DE016084-01. A comparison of fee-for-service versus managed care Medicaid dental programs and the effect on the access to and utilization of dental services or children. $521,067.
2004-2007 PI: Tegwyn H. Brickhouse- Training in Primary Care Medicine and Pediatric Dentistry. 5D59HP03543-01-01. Health Resources Services Administration (HRSA). $517,881.
2005-2006 PI: Tegwyn H. Brickhouse- VDH Bright Smiles Fluoride Varnish Program Consultant. Division of Dental Health, Virginia Department of Public Health. $19,500.
2005 Tegwyn H. Brickhouse- Virginia Commonwealth University School of Dentistry Faculty Research Award.
2004-2007 PI: Tegwyn H. Brickhouse- Oral Health Care in a Medical Setting. A.D. Williams Faculty Grant Award. $15,000.
2004 PI: Tegwyn H. Brickhouse- Contract/Consultant. Virginia Dental Needs Assessement. Virginia department of Health Division of Dental Health. $12,500.

Residents

2009 Dr. John Haffner- The Evaluation of Pain Experienced by Children Undergoing Simple Extractions Using 2% Lidocaine versus Oraqix Topical Anesthetic Gel. Virginia Commonwealth University Alexander Fellowship Award.
2009 Dr. Elizabeth Berry-Preventive Dental Services for Infants and Subsequent Utilization of Dental Services.
2009 Dr. Melissa Fries-Functional Health Literacy and the Use of Dental Services in Young Children. Virginia Commonwealth University Alexander Fellowship Award.
2009 Dr. Patricia Arteaga-The Effects of Motivational Interviewing in Pregnancy on Infant Oral Health Knowledge and Behavior.
2009 Dr. Sally Hua-Genetic variations of CYP2B6 enzyme and the response to meperidine in oral sedation. Virginia Commonwealth University Alexander Fellowship Award.
2008 Joy Phelps D.D.S.- Virginia Emergency Room Physician knowledge of the Emergent Treatment of Avulsed Teeth. Virginia Commonwealth University Alexander Fellowship Award.
2008 Lonny Carmichael D.D.S.- A comparative Study of Posterior Esthetic Stainless Steel Crowns and their Relative Shear Strengths. Virginia Commonwealth University Alexander Fellowship Award.
2008 John Flowers D.D.S.- Comparing/Quantifying the Depth of Sedation Between Midazolam/Hydroxyzine and Chloral Hydrate/Meperidine/Hydroxyzine Using Bispectral Index Monitoring. Virginia Commonwealth University Alexander Fellowship Award.
2008 Amanda Kuhn D.D.S.- Fluoride Varnish Usage among Pediatric and General Dentist in Virginia. Virginia Commonwealth University Alexander Fellowship Award.
2008 Carla Lalande D.D.S.- A Comparison of Emergence Behavior in Pediatric Dental Patients Undergoing General Anesthesia with Sevoflurane versus Desflurane. Virginia Commonwealth University Alexander Fellowship Award.
2007 D'Audra Cole D.D.S.- The effect of a nominal fee on the acceptance of treatment options in the Medicaid population. Virginia Commonwealth University Alexander Fellowship Award.
2007 Robert Hollowell D.D.S.- A Survey of the Usage of Articaine among General and Pediatric Dentists. Virginia Commonwealth University Alexander Fellowship Award.
2007 Robert Mansman D.D.S.- Utilization of dental services for chiildren receiving preventive dental services in a medical setting. Virginia Commonwealth University Alexander Fellowship Award.
2007 Kristin Nelson D.D.S.- Children with Special Needs Oral Health Quality of Life Survey. Virginia Commonwealth University Alexander Fellowship Award.
2006 Kathryn Roberts D.D.S.- Children's Oral Health Quality of Life and Access to Dental Services in a Community Setting. Virginia Commonwealth University Alexander Fellowship Award.
2006 Allen Porter D.D.S.- Insurance Status and Dental Disease in Virginia School Children. Virginia Commonwealth University Alexander Fellowship Award.
2006 Annelise Hardin D.D.S.- The Oral Health Knowledge of Infant Caregivers in a Primary Care Setting. Virginia Commonwealth University Alexander Fellowship Award.
2005 Jennifer Dixon D.D.S.- Child's Temperament and Conscious Sedation Outcomes. Virginia Commonwealth University Alexander Award.
2005 Arshia Shingler D.D.S.- Oral Health in a Medical Setting. Virginia Commonwealth University Alexander Fellowship Award.

Dental Students

2009 Rebecca Turner- Infant Oral Health in Pregnancy. Virginia Commonwealth University A.D. Williams Fellowship.
2007 Andrew Zima- Assesment of pediatric posterior esthetic crown facing failures following simulated intra-oral conditions. Virginia Commonwealth University A.D. Williams Fellowship.
2006 Elizabeth Miller- Caregiver's assessement of children's oral health quality of life and the relationship with dental caries risk assessement. Virginia Commonwealth University A.D. Williams Fellowship.
2006 Bryce Cushing- General Dentists and Special Needs Patients: Dental Education and Patient Acceptance. Virginia Commonwealth University A.D. Williams Fellowship.
2006 Quoc Lu- Dental Knowledge Assessement of School of Nurses. Virginia Commonwealth University A.D. Williams Fellowship.
2005 John Flowers- A Study of Childhood Caries Among Siblings Using the Caries Risk Assessement Tool. Virginia Commonwealth University A.D. Williams Fellowship. AADR/AAPD National Student Research group Award in Pediatric Dentistry.
2005 Kenneth Eye- Comparison of the assessement of dental knowledge between nursing students in undergraduate programs versus those in postgraduate programs. Virginia Commonwealth University A.D. Williams Fellowship.
2004 Garauv Agarwal- A community-based oral health intervention for children. VCU Student A.D. Williams Fellowship 2004. Awarded the 2005 IADR Education Research Group- USA Student Award.

Publications

Brickhouse TH, Harless DW. The Impact of Enrollment Characteristics on Dental Utilization in Medicaid. Journal of Public Health Dentistry (Submitted Mar. 2009).

Brickhouse TH, Rozier GR, Slade GD. A Comparison of Dental Plan Performance for Children Enrolled in Medicaid and SCHIP. Journal of Public Health Dentistry (Submitted Mar. 2009).

Brickhouse TH, Ellsworth CW, Farrington FH, Best AM. Barriers to Dental Care for Children in Virginia with Autistic Spectrum Disorders. Journal of Dentistry for Children (Accepted Nov. 2008).

Brickhouse TH, Hollowell RL, Unkel JH, Webb MD, Best AM. Articaine use in children among dental practitioners. Pediatric Dentistry (Accepted Feb. 2008).

Webb MD, Unkel JH, Anesthetic Management of the Trigeminocardiac Reflux During Mesiodens Removal - A Case Report. Anesthesia Progress. 2007:54(1);7-8.

Brickhouse TH, Rozier RG, Slade GD. Dental health staus enrolled and non-enrolled children of publicity funded health insurance programs. American Journal of Public Health. (Accepted August 2007).

Brickhouse TH, Davis RD, Unkel JH, Kancitis K, Best AM. Infant Oral Health Care: a Survey of General Dentists, Pediatric Dentists, and Pediatricians. Pediatric Dentistry. (Accepted May 2007).

Brickhouse TH, Porter AS, Lazar EL, Unkel JH. Insurance Status and Untreated Dental Caries in Virginia Schoolchildren. Pediatric Dentistry. (Accepted Jan. 2007).

Lewis HC, Brickhouse TH, Carswell KM, Day KC. Oral Health Needs of Virginia Schoolchildren by HMO region. Virginia Dental Association Journal. 84:1, 51-55, 2007.

Nicopoulos M, Brennan MT, Kent ML, Brickhouse TH, Rogers MK, Fox PC, Lockhart PB. Oral Health Needs and Barriers to Dental Care in Hospitalized Children. Special Care Dentistry. (Accepted December 2006).

Brickhouse TH, Rozier RG, Slade GD. The Effect of Two Publicly Funded Insurance Programs on Use of Dental Services for Young Children. Health Services Research. 41:6, 2033-2053, 2006.

Unkel JH, Brickhouse TH, Sweatman TW, Scarbecz M, Thompkins WP, Eslinger CS. A comparison of 3 routes of fluazenil (FL) administration to reverse benzodiazepine induced desaturation in an animal model. Pediatric Dentistry. 28:357-362, 2006.

Brickhouse TH, Slayton R. Chapter 2: Dental Development, Morphology, Eruption and Related Pathologies. In: Nowak A, Cassamassimo P, eds. The Handbook of Pediatric Dentistry: Publishers; 2006.

Pettinato FC, Farrington FH, Mourino A, Best AM, Brickhouse TH. Rural versus Urban Analysis of Dental Procedures Provided to Virginia Medicaid Recipients. Pediatric Dentistry. 26:440-444, 2004.

Book Chapters

Hughes TL, dela Cruz GG, Rozier RG. The Prevention of Oral Diseases in Early Childhood. In: Gullota T, Bloom M, eds. Encycopedia of Primary Prevention and Health Promotion: Kluwer Academic / Plenum Publishers.; 2002.

Brickhouse TH, Slayton R. Chapter 2: Dental Development, Morphology, Eruption and Related Pathologies. In: Nowak A, Cassamassimo P, eds. The Handbook of Pediatric Dentistry: Publishers; 2006.

Brickhouse TH. Chapter 9: Family oral health education. In: Berg J, Slayton R, eds. Early Childhood Oral Health: Wiley-Blackwell Publishers; 2009.