Robert S. Jones PhD, DDS

Dr. Jones is an Associate Professor with tenure in the Division of Pediatric Dentistry. He has been at the University of Minnesota School of Dentistry since 2009. He has been a PI or Co-I on several NIH and University of Minnesota CTSI grants. He maintains an active microbiology lab (B-A-M Lab) focusing on applied and clinical translational projects with industrial collaborations in these areas. His current research interests are focused on addressing distinct research questions in oral health:

1. What factors reduce the longevity of dental restorations and how can new technologies improve the detection of early failure?
2. How can oral bacteria be managed over time to improve clinical outcomes in children with a chronic history of caries?

To date, he has mentored a total of 17 students (pediatric residents and dental students) on projects that have led to a research publication or meeting abstract. His teaching responsibilities include clinical and didactic instruction in caries management and moderate sedation. Dr. Jones received his DDS and PhD after completing the Dental Scientist Training Program at University of California, San Francisco. He completed his Pediatric Dental Residency at UCSF in 2009 and has done research in examining biological factors in Early Childhood Caries.

Oral Biofilm, Biodegradation, Early caries detection, and Assessing Caries Associated Risk Factors in Children.

Year: 2014-2015
Title of Grant: Novel Polymer Matrix for Dental Applications
Sponsor: NIH, SBIR Phase I –one year grant (small business innovation research); 1R43DE024013-01
Role: Academic partner subcontract PI

Year: 2013-2015
Title of Grant: Examining Antimicrobial Therapies to Control Pathogenic Oral Biofilms in Young Children
Sponsor: CTSI-Ed R to R Pilot Grant, University of Minnesota, UL1TR000114
Role: Pl

Year: 2013-2014
Title of Grant: Correlation of Early Childhood Caries Risk and Obesity in Preschoolers Via Salivary Testing
Sponsor: CTSI’s of UCLA and the University of Minnesota (RFA, Cross-Institutional Awards for Health Disparities Research and Health Systems Change)
Role: Co-Pl

Year: 2010-2015
Title of Grant: Interactions Between Oral Biofilms and Dental Resin Composites
Sponsor: NIDCR, NIH R01
Role: Co-Pl

(* = corresponding author)

• Rasmussen K, Reilly C, Li Y, Jones RS, N-Acetyl-L-cysteine Effects on Multi-species Oral Biofilm Formation and Bacterial Ecology. Lett in Appl Micro (2015) (in press)
• Rasmussen K, Reilly C, Li Y, Jones RS, Real-time imaging of anti-biofilm effects using CP-OCT, Biotechnol Bioeng. 2015 Jul 7. doi: 10.1002/bit.25701.
• Li Y, Carrera C, Chen R, Li J, Chen Y, Lenton P, Rudney JD, Jones RS, Aparicio C, Fok A. Fatigue failure of dentin-composite disks subjected to cyclic diametral compression. Dent Mater. 2015 Jul;31(7):778-88. doi: 10.1016/j.dental.2015.03.014. Epub 2015 May 6. PubMed PMID: 25958269; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC4461523.
• Reilly C, Rasmussen K, Selberg T; Stevens J, Jones RS*, Biofilm Community Diversity after Exposure to 0.4% Stannous Fluoride Gels, Journal of Applied Microbiology, 2014, in press, DOI: 10.1111/jam.12655
• Lenton P, Rudney J, Fok A, Jones RS*, “Clinical CP-OCT Assessment of Subsurface Enamel below Dental Resin Composite Restorations”, Journal of Medical Imaging, April-Jun 1(1), 016001 2014
• Li Y, Carrera C, Chen R, Li J, Lenton P, Rudney JD, Jones RS, Aparicio C, Fok A, “Degradation in the dentin-composite interface subjected to multi-species biofilm challenges.”, Acta Biomater. 2014 Jan;10(1):375-83.
• Isfeld DM, Aparicio C, Jones RS*, “Assessing near Infrared Optical Properties of Ceramic Orthodontic Brackets using Cross-Polarization Optical Coherence Tomography”, J Biomed Mater Res B Appl Biomater, 2014 Apr;102(3):516-23
• Xiaozhou L, Jones RS*, "Evaluating a Novel Fissure Caries Model using Swept Source Optical Coherence Tomography", Dental Materials Journal (Japan), 2013 Nov 30;32(6):906-12
• Van Hilsen Z, Jones RS*, “Comparing Potential Early Caries Assessment Methods for Teledentistry”, BMC Oral Health 2013, 13:16 (28 March 2013)
• Lammeier C, Li Y, Lunos S, Fok A , Rudney J, Jones RS*, “The Influence of Dental Resin Material Composition on CP-OCT Imaging, ” J Biomed Opt 17(10), 106002 (October 2012)
• OCT News.com, Online Newsletter for Advances in Optical Coherence Tomography Feature of the Week, 4/15/2012 Online Presentation, “Assessing Ex Vivo Dental Biofilms with Cross-Polarization Optical Coherence Tomography”
• http://www.octnews.org/articles/3654632/feature-of-the-week-41512-assessing-ex-vivo-dental/
• P. Lenton, J. Rudney, R. Chen, A. Fok, C. Aparicio and R. S. Jones, "Imaging in vivo secondary caries and ex vivo dental biofilms using cross-polarization optical coherence tomography," Dental Materials 28(7), 792-800 (2012)
• Chen R, Rudney J, Aparicio C, Fok A, Jones RS*, Quantifying dental biofilm growth using cross-polarization optical coherence tomography, Letters in Applied Microbiology, 54(6), 537-542 (2012).
• Huang S-H, Lin L-S, Rudney J, Jones RS, Aparicio C, Lin C-P, Fok, A (2012) A novel dentin bond strength measurement technique using a composite disk in diametral compression. Acta Biomaterialia 8:1597-1602.
• Weaver D, Rudney JD, Chen R, Chityala R, Fok A, Aparicio C, Jones RS (2012) Volumetric assessment of oral microcosm biofilms grown on resin composites. J Dent Res 91(Spec Iss A):819.
• Aparicio C, Li J, Chen R, Li Y, Jones RS, Rudney J (2012) Surface properties modification induced by sterilization of dental resin composites. J Dent Res 91(Spec Iss A):1200.
• Rudney J, Chen R, Jones RS, Fok A, Aparicio C, A Reproducible Oral Microcosm Biofilm Model for Testing Dental Materials, J Dent Res 91(Spec Iss A):1339
• Li Y, Li J, Chen R, Carrera C, Rudney J, Jones RS, Aparicio C, Fok A, (2012) Interfacial degradation in composite restorations subjected to multi-species biofilm challenges, J Dent Res 92 (Spec Iss A): 166673 IADR, Iguacu Falls, Brazil.
• Li J, Li Y, Chen R, Carrera C, Reilly C, Fok A, Rudney J, Jones RS, Aparicio C (2012) Surface degradation of dental resin composites induced by microcosm biofilms grown in a bioreactor directly from pediatric donors' plaque. 9th World Biomaterials Congress, Chengdu, China.
• Nixdorf DR, Jones RS, Leon-Salazar V, John MT, and Idiyatullin D, Detecting Early Carious Lesions: An Ex-vivo MRI-based Study. J Dent Res 90 (Spec Iss A): 1589
• Jones RS, Huynh GD, Jones GC, and Fried D, Near-infrared transillumination at 1310-nm for the imaging of early dental decay, Opt. Express 2003: 11, 2259-2265.
• Jones RS, Staninec M, Fried D: Imaging artificial caries under composite sealants and restorations. J Biomed Opt 2004; 9: 1297-304.
• Dela Rosa A, Sarma AV, Le CQ, Jones RS, Fried D: Perpheral thermal and mechanical damage to dentin with microsecond and sub-microsecond 9.6 µm, 2.79 µm, and 0.355 µm laser pulses. Lasers Surg Med 2004: 35:214-28.
• Jones RS, Darling CL, Featherstone JDB, Fried D: Remineralization of in vitro Dental Caries Assessed with Polarization Sensitive Optical Coherence Tomography. J Biomed Opt 2006;11:1-9.
• Jones RS, Darling CL, Featherstone JDB, Fried D: Imaging Artificial Caries on the Occlusal Surfaces with Polarization Sensitive Optical Coherence Tomography. Caries Res 2006;40:81-89.
• Jones RS, Fried D: Remineralization of enamel caries can decrease optical reflectivity. J Dent Res 2006;85:804-808.

Diplomate, American Board of Pediatric Dentistry