Tenuta Lab

Livia M. A. Tenuta, DDS, MSc, PhD
Associate Professor, Department of Cariology, Restorative Sciences and Endodontics
Principal investigator

litenuta@umich.edu | 734-763-3754

Livia Tenuta is Associate Professor at the Department of Cariology, Restorative Sciences and Endodontics at the University of Michigan School of Dentistry. She received her Doctorate of Dental Science (DDS) degree in 1997 from the University of São Paulo (Bauru, Brazil, graduating with honors at the top of her class), followed by a master's degree in Pediatric Dentistry from the same University (2001) and a doctorate degree in Cariology from the University of Campinas (Piracicaba, Brazil, 2005), where she was an Associate Professor before joining the University of Michigan.

Dr. Tenuta received the IADR Basil Bibby Award for research in Cariology (2014) and more recently the IADR E.W. Borrow Memorial Award (2024). She has been involved in leadership roles in the IADR (president of the IADR Cariology Group, 2011-12), the European Organization for Caries Research (ORCA) (member of the board, 2013-2020; membership secretary and webmaster, 2015-20), and the American Academy of Cariology. Her research interests include the role of fluoride in caries prevention, dental biofilm cariogenicity, caries control in older populations, and the use of data to improve caries outcomes. She is currently working on new strategies to enhance the anticaries effect of fluoride and to reduce the oral health burden of hyposalivation.