Four principal research streams are embedded within this theme:

Cleft Collective

The Cleft Collective is a clinical cohort study that aims to investigate the biological and environmental causes of cleft, the best treatments for cleft and the impact of cleft on those affected and their families.

It is a resource that is continually growing and is available for the international cleft research community. Details of how to access the data are available on the study web pages.

Cleft@18-23

The Cleft@18-23 study will investigate how ethnicity, sex, socio-economic status, health literacy and geography affect outcomes for young adults born with a cleft. The findings will establish how to address this variation and ensure that all young adults have the same chance of achieving the best possible outcomes. Funding for this study was awarded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR).

Head and Neck 5000

Head and Neck 5000 is a clinical cohort study of people with head and neck cancer, that aims to describe the factors that influence survival and the psychological impact of living with head and neck cancer.

Health services research

Our research aims to utilise epidemiological resources to provide preliminary evidence for health services-related questions, which will provide high quality priors for interventional studies, and to conduct health services research methodology to inform the design and conduct of research and intervention.

We also exploit expertise in social sciences to develop trauma-informed care pathways that aim to improve accessibility of dentistry for all.

Working with survivors of childhood sexual abuse

This study involves working with adult survivors of childhood sexual abuse to improve access to dental services.

Clinical trials research

We have a long-established reputation for conducting studies into dentine hypersensitivity and toothwear, prevention of plaque and gingivitis, and treatment of diseases of the periodontium.

More recently, our research has expanded to include studies that test the ability of autologous technologies to improve healing and bone regeneration, and identify the relative influence of risk factors on oral disease prevalence in the population.

Study methodologies include randomised clinical trials, non-interventional clinical studies for epidemiological data and laboratory-based techniques.