Smith awarded NSF grant to study teeth development

June 13, 2023

Tim Smith, a Slippery Rock University professor of physical therapy, received a National Science Foundation grant in the amount of $133,151, with a subaward to Duquesne University, to conduct research about the development of teeth in the alveolar region of the human jaw. The study will also look at the growth of adjacent soft-tissue and airway spaces. The goal of the study is to better understand the direct role of deciduous teeth and permanent molars as pools for bone-forming cells during their germ phase of development.