Prostheses technology and dental materials

The foundations of the Department of Dental Prostheses Technology and Dental Materials were laid in 1962 by Prof. Dr. Emanoil Popa, then head of the Department, seconded by Dr. Veronica Popa, assistant and Prof. Dr. Nicolae Marcu. The discipline initially operated in a room in the Maxillo-facial Surgery Clinic, where there were two workbenches and 12 suspended motors, the laboratory being coordinated by dental technician Paul Theiss.

In 1963, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Radu Roşiu, led for a period of time, simultaneously, both the Dental Prosthetics Department and the Department of Dental Prostheses Technology and Dental Materials. In his activity, Dr. Radu Roşiu was assisted by: Dr. Vlad Romulus, Dr. Cornel Laichici and Dr. Mariara Pop. On the corridors of the Policlinic III, on the 3rd and 4th floor, some spaces were built where the discipline carried out its activity until the academic year 1988-1989.

Between 1964 and 1968, the discipline was led by Dr. Vlad Romulus, a dentist and primary maxillo-facial surgeon. Between 1968 and 1977, Dr. Loan Bordeian, head of department, came to lead the discipline.

In the academic year 1977-1978, Dr. Marioara Pop was in charge of the discipline, and in 1989, the direction of the discipline was taken over by Prof. Dr. Dorin Bratu.

In the academic year 1988-1989, the headquarters of the discipline was moved from the Polyclinic III to the Medicine II building, on Spl. T. Vladimirovescu 14, through the efforts of Prof. Univ. Emanoil Popa, the dean of Faculty of Dental Medicine and interim rector.

In the year 2000, after the transfer of Prof. Dr. Dorin Bratu to the Department of Dental Prosthetics, the lead of the discipline was taken over by Mr. Prof. Dr. Mihai Romînu who is the head of the department at the moment.

Following the decision of the rector of UMF „Victor Babeş” Timişoara, Mr. Prof. Dr. Şt. I. Drăgulescu, part of the Department of Dental Prostheses Technology and Dental Materials was moved in 2001 in the building of the Faculty of Dentistry (former Polyclinic III).

Since the autumn of 2006, the entire Department of Dental Prostheses Technology and Dental Materials has been operating in the building of the Faculty of Dentistry, from Bd. Revoluţiei 1989 no. 9.

In the period 1989-2000, with the efforts of Prof. Dr. Dorin Bratu and the other members of the discipline, it underwent significant transformations, both as a technical-material endowment, and tutors. The technical-material base was continuously improved after 2000, the laboratories being equipped with modern equipment and installations, which allowed both raising the quality of the educational process and scientific research, the members of the department having studies published in specialized journals abroad.

Thus we can mention the existence in the Educational and Research Laboratory that works in the department, of a dedicated three-dimensional milling system, a CAD / CAM system (Wieland), a welding system including syncrystallization in the oral cavity by (Italy), a diode laser system , a system for carrying out all-ceramic prosthetic works by pressing (eMax, Ivoclar) and a system for carrying out all-ceramic works by electrophoretic deposition (WolCeram). The department also has a Mecmesin Multitest 5i mechanical testing device, respectively a metallographic microscope.

Following the international collaborations made with Prof. Univ. Adrian Gh. Podoleanu (University of Kent, Canterbury, UK), Department of Prostheses Technology and Dental Materials, has won research projects in national competitions with the topic of coherent optical tomography applications in dentistry. The publications made during this period of time are welcomed by the researchers, marking the first OCT investigations in dental technique (defectoscopy in ceramics, polymers and dental composites), orthodontics, implantology and prosthetics. Since 2009, within the department there is the first national OCT Time Domain system dedicated to applications in Dentistry, and since 2011 there is the first national Spectral OCT system dedicated to clinical applications in Dentistry. The members of the department use OCT technology in other fields as well, in collaboration with other department and research projects, covering a major area of interest (general medicine, museography, archeology, art, etc.).

Validations of the research results were performed following the collaboration with University at Buffalo, New York, USA, using Micro-CT technology, Univ. of Medicine, Novi Sad, Serbia and ETH – Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule Zürich, Switzerland using transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and cryogenics technologies.

A major aspect is the continuous collaboration with the Polytechnic University of Timişoara, a reliable and enduring partner in the world of fundamental research, in different directions of common interest.

In 2011, the researches were involved in the use of non-invasive investigations using Synchrotron radiation, as a result of collaboration with Elettra, Trieste (Italy). The three-dimensional reconstructions of the scans obtained from Synchrotron were processed at the Polytechnic University of Marche, Ancona, Italy, in collaboration with a European COST program (MP1005). Absorption assessments have opened up new avenues of research in dentistry with a major impact on the level of research.

Over the years, students of the Faculty of Dentistry have been conducting research in the Department of Prostheses Technology and Dental Materials, and the results have been presented at a number of national and international student conferences, some of which have won valuable awards (Novi Sad, Serbia). , Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Moscow, Russia, etc.).