Log in
Dentine hypersensitivity manifests as daily, transient, arresting tooth pain in 40% of adults. Pain is caused by toothbrush abrasion and dietary acid erosion, which combine to wear teeth, expose dentine and open dentine tubules.
For 20 years, Bristol's Dental Clinical Trials Unit has worked in partnership with industrial sponsors to develop a dental model to evaluate products designed to protect teeth from erosion and abrasion, and to test whether new toothpastes block dentine tubules, thereby reducing pain from sensitive teeth. This model is used by researchers worldwide and is the "gold standard". New toothpastes launched by GSK, Colgate, Unilever and P&G between 2008 and 2013, tested with the dental model, demonstrably reduce dentine hypersensitivity. These toothpastes are sold in advanced and emerging markets in over 100 countries, with sales of £5bn in 2012.
Researchers from King's College London (KCL) designed and trialled a series of Oral Mucosal Disease Severity Scoring Systems (ODSS) that are now used routinely in clinical assessment of both serious and common oral diseases. They have changed clinical practice and significantly improved patient care and quality of life. For example, using ODSS has changed the first line treatment for orofacial granulomatosis from drugs to diet control, optimising treatment and definition of disease phenotypes. ODSS has achieved national and international impacts by providing objective evidence for the efficacy of treatments and is now incorporated into international guidelines of good practice and core training for oral medicine specialists.
The School of Mathematics at Cardiff University has developed important statistical and mathematical models for forecasting consumer buying behaviour. Enhancements to classical models, inspired by extensively studying their statistical properties, have allowed us to exploit their vast potential to benefit the sales and marketing strategies of manufacturing and retail organisations. The research has been endorsed and applied by Nielsen, the #1 global market research organisation that provides services to clients in 100 countries. Nielsen has utilised the models to augment profits and retain their globally leading corporate position. This has led to a US$30 million investment and been used to benefit major consumer goods manufacturers such as Pepsi, Kraft, Unilever, Nestlé and Procter & Gamble. Therefore the impact claimed is financial. Moreover, impact is also measurable in terms of public engagement since the work has been disseminated at a wide range of national and international corporate events and conferences. Beneficiaries include Tesco, Sainsbury's, GlaxoSmithKline and Mindshare WW.
Since 1995, Loughborough's research into vibro-impact systems (VIS) has made handheld breaker tools safer for operators and has also increased machining efficiency. Users have been prone to detrimental `hand arm vibration' effects of multiple impacts, including the debilitating condition `white finger'. JCB applied the research findings in its HM25LV breaker design, introduced in 2008, which despite being more powerful exhibits half the hand arm vibration of competitors. JCB has sold more than 1,800 units in the UK and abroad.
Research conducted within the School of Physical Sciences (SPS) at the University of Kent has led to the development and successful commercialisation of facial identification software named EFIT-V. First sold in 2007, this software is now used by more than 70 police forces internationally and has revolutionized the way eyewitnesses and victims of crime create computerised facial likenesses of offenders. These images are circulated to police intelligence units, and the general public, leading to the identification and arrests of offenders. Police Identification rates have jumped from 5% to 55% as a result of this software. With a current annual turnover exceeding £250K, which is projected to reach £600K by 2015, Kent spinout company Visionmetric has made significant impact with EFIT-V, and achieved a position of commercial dominance in the UK, and around the world.
The GRANIT system is a non-destructive technique for assessing the condition of rock bolts and ground anchors used to support structures such as tunnels. It applies a small impulse to the bolt and interprets the resulting vibration response to provide estimates of load and unbonded length. Initial development of the system was based on the findings of EPSRC projects in tunnels undertaken by the Universities of Aberdeen and Bradford from 1989-1997, resulting in an empirically based method. However, research undertaken at the University of Aberdeen since 1998 has provided the understanding of the process and developed the fundamental engineering science needed to underpin the development of a full commercial system. The GRANIT system is patented, and has been subject to worldwide licence to Halcrow who have undertaken testing and provided a method of ensuring the safety of mines, tunnels and similar structures. Halcrow received the NCE award for Technical Innovation Award for GRANIT in December 2010. The impact of the research has been in part economic, but largely on practitioners and professional services.
Research by the UCL Dental Public Health Group has led the international field in the development and validation of quality of life (QoL) measures associated with oral health. Tsakos and Sheiham instigated the development of the Oral Impacts on Daily Performances (OIDP) measure in 1996 followed by the Child Oral Impacts on Daily Life (Child-OIDP) in 2004. Both of these outcome measures have been employed in epidemiological surveys of needs assessment by local health providers in London resulting in enhanced use of resources, better staff training, and improved patient care and health care access. These measures have been employed in the most significant NHS surveys of oral health of adults and children in the UK as well as used by health organisations across the globe. The outcomes of Tsakos' research on oral epidemiology and QoL, together with engagement with policy makers in the UK and Europe, have raised the profile of oral health and is influencing health care policies nationally and internationally.
Our biomarker research and underpinning technologies have commercially impacted upon the global R&D strategies of Unilever, Philips and Mars, realising new market areas for them, resulting in several million GBP invested in related R&D as well as "claim support" for products both in development and already available on shelves. Unilever have adopted biomarker outcomes as endpoints in clinical trials of new products, and Philips and Mars are developing with us saliva-based near-patient diagnostic tests for the human and small animal markets. We have also spun out two SME's: A) Oral Health Innovations (OHI) Ltd has developed online risk and disease analysis software for oral conditions, which was piloted, adopted and launched by Denplan, the UKs largest dental capitation plan operator (accessing 6500 dentists and 1.8 million patients), at the 2013 annual British Dental Association conference; and B) GFC Diagnostics makes SmokeScreen™ a non-invasive, sensitive and objective saliva test developed from our biomarker research at Birmingham University. Both technologies have already provided demonstrable social and commercial impact and given their uptake to date, will also deliver economic, environmental and health impacts.