Professor Josette Camilleri B.Ch.D., FDS RCPS (Glasg.), M.Phil., Ph.D., FCGDent., FICD, FADM, FIMMM, FHEA

Professor Josette Camilleri

School of Dentistry
Head of the School of Dentistry
Clinical Professor of Endodontics and Applied Materials

Josette Camilleri obtained her Bachelor of Dental Surgery and Master of Philosophy in Dental Surgery from the University of Malta. She completed her doctoral degree, supervised by the late Professor Tom Pitt Ford, at Guy’s Hospital, King’s College London. She has worked at the Department of Civil and Structural Engineering, Faculty for the Built Environment, University of Malta and at the Department of Restorative Dentistry, Faculty of Dental Surgery, University of Malta, Malta.

She is currently Head of Dentistry and Professor of Endodontics and Applied Materials within the University of Birmingham's College of Medicine and Health. Her research interests include material characterization with special interest in endodontic materials and hydraulic cements. She has been instrumental in development of hydraulic materials for endodontic applications and also discovered the mechanisms of tooth discolouration caused by bismuth oxide in dental cements.

Josette is highly published and has an international ranking as a materials scientist and as a clinical academic. In 2018, she has been awarded the Louis Grossman prize by the French Endodontic Society and is the first female recipient of this prestigious award. She is also co-founder of Birmingham Materials Testing Services BiMaTs which is an operating division of University of Birmingham Enterprise.

Qualifications

  • FDS RCPS Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow in 2024
  • FCG Dent. Fellow of the College of General Dentists in 2023
  • FHEA  Fellow of Higher Education Academy in 2017
  • FICD Fellow of International College of Dentists in 2016
  • FADM Fellow of Academy of Dental Materials in 2012
  • FIMMM Fellow of Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining in 2012
  • PhD in Materials Science in 2007
  • M.Phil in Endodontology in 2001
  • B.Ch.D. in 1992

Biography

Josette was born in Malta and has trained as a dental surgeon at the University of Malta. She undertook post-graduate studies under the supervision of the late Prof Thomas Pitt Ford at King’s College London after securing a commonwealth scholarship. She obtained a PhD degree in 2007. Josette has worked at the NHS in Malta from 1999-2007 after which she undertook an academic career as a resident academic first at the Department of Building and Civil Engineering, Faculty for the Built Environment, University of Malta and then at the Department of Restorative Dentistry, Faculty of Dental Surgery, University of Malta, Malta.

In 2017, Josette moved to Birmingham and was employed as Senior lecturer in Restorative Dentistry at the University of Birmingham. She was promoted to Reader in 2019 and to Clinical Professor in 2022. She has also been visiting professor at KU Leuven, Leuven Belgium and University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway till 2023. While in Birmingham, Josette has maintained her extensive industrial collaborations and is co-founder of a University Operational Division called Birmingham Material Testing Services (BiMaTS). She is also the founder and lead of the MSc Endodontics. She has occupied various leadership positions including Lead for Global Engagement and Quality Assurance for Dentistry, Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Lead for the Institute of Clinical Sciences and Post-graduate Research Lead – Dubai for the College of Medicine and Health. She has been appointed as Head of Dentistry in 2024.

She is also the Chief Specialty Editor for Dental Materials in Frontiers in Dental Medicine, a senior editorial board member of Scientific Reports (Nature). Josette is also an expert for British Standards Institution and International Standards Organization. Josette has extensive experience in both teaching and research and has various international collaborations.

Research

Josette Camilleri is known for her research on mineral trioxide aggregate. She has characterized and identified the composition of the original formulation of mineral trioxide aggregate and also shown its interaction with the environment and biological tissues. Her research has been instrumental in further material development and the creation of various second generation material available clinically. She has also developed  and tested a number of prototypes which could prospectively be launched in the future.

Josette has also worked extensively on the mechanisms of discolouration of teeth caused by various materials used in Endodontics and has also researched the changes to materials subjected to various environments during clinical use.

Other research involvement includes testing of zirconia and other ceramics, antimicrobial testing of various dental materials, standardisation of testing of materials, and the creation of ex vivo models for better understanding of the interaction of dental materials when in clinical use.

Through various collaborations with Engineering and Civil Engineering, research on building materials used in the construction industry and the reutilisation of wastes in concrete construction has also been undertaken.  

Publications

Recent publications

Article

Binobaid, A, Guner, A, Camilleri, J, Jiménez, A & Essa, K 2024, 'A 3D printed ultra-short dental implant based on lattice structures and Zirconia/Ca2SiO4 combination', Journal of the Mechanical Behavior of Biomedical Materials. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jmbbm.2024.106559

Aly, YM, Zhang, Z, Ali, N, Milward, MR, Poologasundarampillai, G, Dong, H, Kuehne, SA & Camilleri, J 2024, 'Ceramic conversion treated titanium implant abutments with gold for enhanced antimicrobial activity', Dental Materials, vol. 40, no. 8, pp. 1199-1207. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dental.2024.05.029

Raman, V & Camilleri, J 2024, 'Characterization and Assessment of Physical Properties of 3 Single Syringe Hydraulic Cement-based Sealers', Journal of Endodontics, vol. 50, no. 3, pp. 381-388. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.joen.2024.01.001

Chen, JH, Raman, V, Kuehne, SA, Camilleri, J & Hirschfeld, J 2024, 'Chemical, antibacterial and cytotoxic properties of four different endodontic sealer leachates over time', Journal of Endodontics. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.joen.2024.08.015

Kapralos, V, Camilleri, J, Koutroulis, A, Valen, H, Ørstavik, D & Sunde, PT 2024, 'Endodontic sealers after exposure to chlorhexidine digluconate: An assessment of physicochemical properties', Dental Materials, vol. 40, no. 3, pp. 420-430. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dental.2023.11.019

Bhandari, SS, Palin, W, Kuehne, SA & Camilleri, J 2024, 'Investigating best practice for specimen preparation for biological testing of root canal sealers', Dental Materials, vol. 40, no. 3, pp. 387-392. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dental.2023.12.001

Pelepenko, LE, Marciano, MA, Shelton, RM & Camilleri, J 2024, 'Leaching and cytotoxicity of bismuth oxide in ProRoot MTA: A laboratory investigation', International Endodontic Journal, pp. 1-22. https://doi.org/10.1111/iej.14101

Ali, N, Scheven, BA, Palin, WM & Camilleri, J 2024, 'Proposing new standards for testing solubility of pulp preservation materials', Dental Materials, vol. 40, no. 8, pp. 1252-1258. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dental.2024.05.028

Koutroulis, A, Valen, H, Ørstavik, D, Kapralos, V, Camilleri, J, Sunde, PT & Cao, H (ed.) 2023, 'Antibacterial Activity of Root Repair Cements in Contact with Dentin—An Ex Vivo Study', Journal of Functional Biomaterials, vol. 14, no. 10, 511. https://doi.org/10.3390/jfb14100511

Marciano, MA, Pelepenko, LE, Francati, TM, Antunes, TBM, Janini, ACP, Rohwedder, JJR, Shelton, RM & Camilleri, J 2023, 'Bismuth release from endodontic materials: in vivo analysis using Wistar rats', Scientific Reports, vol. 13, no. 1, 9738. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-36690-4

Kooanantkul, C, Shelton, R & Camilleri, J 2023, 'Comparison of obturation quality in natural and replica teeth root-filled using different sealers and techniques', Clinical Oral Investigations, vol. 27, no. 5, pp. 2407-2417. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00784-023-04884-9

Koutroulis, A, Valen, H, Ørstavik, D, Kapralos, V, Camilleri, J & Sunde, PT 2023, 'Effect of exposure conditions on chemical properties of materials for surgical endodontic procedures', European Journal of Oral Sciences. https://doi.org/10.1111/eos.12943

Editorial

Camilleri, J 2023, 'Editorial: Insights in dental materials: 2022', Frontiers in Dental Medicine, vol. 4, 1195007. https://doi.org/10.3389/fdmed.2023.1195007

Review article

Cardinali, F & Camilleri, J 2023, 'A critical review of the material properties guiding the clinician's choice of root canal sealers', Clinical Oral Investigations, vol. 27, no. 8, pp. 4147-4155. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00784-023-05140-w

Karataş, E, Kul, A, Camilleri, J & Yonel, Z 2023, 'Association between rheumatoid arthritis and pulpal-periapical pathology: a systematic review', Clinical Oral Investigations. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00784-023-05305-7

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