Dr Sandra Parker, BSc (Hons) MPhil PhD

Profile

In 1973 I graduated in Ceramics followed by an MPhil in 1977 from Leeds University.  In 1977 I started work in Biomaterials in Relation to Dentistry at the former LHMC as a research assistant on an MRC grant to develop new denture soft lining materials.  In 1982 I obtained my PhD from the University of London and in 1983 I became a lecturer in the same department at LHMC through the "new blood" lecturer scheme. From 1993 to 1996 I was in charge of the day-to-day running of an NIH grant joint with Virginia Polytechnic on the development and evaluation of denture soft lining materials. In 1996 I became co- ordinator of Project 8 Soft Prosthesis Materials in the Interdiciplinary Reseach Centre for Biomedical Materials, and also became an IRC core staff member. I have worked collaboratively with other Universities both here (Leeds, Brighton) and overseas (Virginia Polytechnic, University of North Carolina, Matsumoto Dental University) as well as withindustry.

Soft prosthetic materials are still my main area of research and I have considerable experience in their development and physical properties.  I have published 30 peer reviewed articles and a book chapter and successfully supervised 4 PhD students.

Since 2001 I have been thread convenor for dental materials science teaching in the BDS course and also I organise and deliver postgraduate teaching to both clinical and non-clinical taught courses. During my career I have acquired a broad knowledge of dental materials science and its teaching.

Research

Research Interests:

Research interests centre round the development of novel soft materials for denture soft linings, various maxillofacial prostheses and other biomedical applications.  Specific materials:

1) Soft acrylics containing a range of plasticisers with low plasticiser leaching and lower water uptake than current commercial materials, more recently with increased compliance.

2) Novel elastomer/methacrylate monomer systems where changes in composition can produce materials with a variety of mechanical and water uptake properties and addition of a silica filler can increase cell adhesion, an example are butyl elastomer-based materials with good oxidation resistance and low cell adhesion.;

3) Tissue conditioners with alternative plasticisers (usually phthalates) and reduced ethanol content that have low water uptake and plasticiser leaching;

4) Silicone elastomers used with a variety of fillers, mechanical properties varying with type and amount of filler.

Of particular interest are the chemical and physical effects of environment on the materials and composition/property interaction, including cell interaction.  Other interests include the further development of these materials as drug delivery vehicles for the release of active species to treat denture related stomatitis and other oral infections.

More recently I have been involved with the fluoride release and acid solubility of glass ionomer cements

My backgound in both polymer and ceramic materials and experience of composition/property interaction will enable me to make an important contribution to the development of prosthetic materials in an interdisciplinary environment.

Publications

Key Publications

S. Parker and M. Braden, "Water absorption of methacrylate soft lining materials." Biomaterials, 10: 91-95 1989.

M. Braden, P.S. Wright and S. Parker, "Soft lining materials - a review." Eur. J. Prosthodont. Rest. Dent. 3 : 163-174, 1995.

S. Parker and M. Braden, "The effect of composition on the gelation of tissue conditioners." Biomaterials 17 : 1827-1832, 1996

S. Parker, M.P. Patel, J. Tibaldi and M. Braden, “Two methacrylate based materials for intra-oral drug delivery.” Plas. Rubber Compos. Process. Appl., 26 : 298-302, 1997

S. Parker, P.D. Riggs, M. Braden, S. Kalachandra and D.F. Taylor, "Water uptake of soft lining materials from osmotic solutions." J. Dent. 25: 297-304, 1997

P.D. Riggs, S. Parker, M. Braden, S. Kalachandra and D.F. Taylor, "The influence of additives on the water uptake of silicone rubbers." Biomaterials. 18: 721-726, 1997.

S. Parker, M. Braden and D.M. Martin, "Soft acrylic resin materials containing a polymerisable plasticiser I: mechanical properties.", Biomaterials 19: 1695-1701, 1998.

P.S. Wright, A. Young, P.D. Riggs, S. Parker, and S. Kalachandra, "Evaluating the relationship between soft lining materials and yeast." J. Prosthet. Dent. 79: 404-409, 1998.

S. Parker and M. Braden, "The effect of particle size on the gelation of tissue conditioners." Biomaterials. 22: 2039-2042, 2001

S.N. Nazhat, S. Parker, P.D. Riggs and M. Braden, "Blends of isoprene/styrene/methacrylate monomer systems as denture soft lining materials:" Biomaterials, 22: 2087-2093, 2001.

S.N. Nazhat, S. Parker, M.P. Patel and M. Braden. "Development and characterisation of isoprene-styrene copolymer elastomer and tetrahydrofurfuryl methacrylate mixtures for soft prosthetic applications." Biomaterials, 22: 2411-2416, 2001.

P.D. Riggs, S. Parker, M. Braden "Development of butyl elastomer/methacrylate monomer systems as denture soft lining materials." Biomaterials, 23: 915-920, 2002.

T Takamata, J Otogoto, I Kurasawa, S Nagasawa, S Parker “Laboratory evaluation of 10 permanent soft lining materials and some clinical observations.” Matsumoto Shigaku, 30: 143-153, 2004.

S Parker, I Meththananda, M Braden and GJ Pearson "Characterisation of experimental silicones" J. Mater. Sci.: Mat. In Med. 17: 1255-1258, 2006.

G Rodger, RL Taylor, S Parker and J Verran "Microbial contamination on dental impressions arriving at commercial dental laboratory." Quintessence J Dent Tech, 4: 334-343, 2006

T Takamata, S Parker, S Katase, H Numao, Y Kato, K Hashii and MAnzai, "A comparison of commercial tissue conditioners using International Standard (ISO) 10139-1." Matsumoto Shigaku, 33:21-28, 2007.

I Meththananda, S Parker, MP Patel, M Braden. The relationship between Shore hardness of elastomeric dental materials and Young's modulus. Dent Mater, 25: 956-959, 2009.

A Siddiqui, M Braden, MP. Patel, S Parker, An experimental and theoretical study of the effect of sample thickness on the Shore hardness of elastomers. Dent Mater, 26: 560-564, 2010.