About Sompop Bencharit, DDS
Dr. Bencharit has extensive clinical experiences in fixed prosthodontics, removable prosthodontics, dental implants, and maxillofacial prosthodontics. He was the first prosthodontic chief resident of the program at the University of North Carolina at Chapel HIll (UNC), from July 1998 to June 1999. He joined the UNC faculty in February 2005 and had taught at UNC as an Assistant Professor in Prosthodontics and Pharmacology until July 2016. Dr. Bencharit's main clinical teaching responsibility includes the 3rd and 4th year DDS fixed, removable, and implant prosthodontic clinics; and graduate prosthodontic clinics. He also mentors undergraduate, medical, dental, postgraduate, and PhD students. He focuses his dental practices on full mouth rehabilitation with dental implants. At UNC, he also maintained his attending hospital privileges at the UNC Memorial Hospitals. In August 2016, Dr. Bencharit joined the VCU School of Dentistry and School of Engineering as VCU Director of Digital Dentistry Technologies. Dr. Bencharit is a protein structural biologist specializing in protein X-ray crystallography. He has his research interests in structural biology and its application to human diseases in particular the role of signaling proteins involved in vessel development. In addition, he is also interested in the clinical application of salivary proteomics using an advanced mass spectrometry. His main laboratory goals include salivary proteomic analysis and biomarker discovery, dental implant technologies, and applications of CADCAM technologies in dentistry. His past and current research works have been funded by the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI), GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), the American College of Prosthodontists (ACP) Research Foundation, American Academy of Implant Dentistry (AAID) Foundation. He is an active member of International Association of Dental Research (IADR), American Association of Dental Research (AADR), American College of Prosthodontists (ACP), American Crystallographic Association (ACA), American Dental Education Association (ADEA), American Academy of Osseointegration (AO), and Angioma Alliance. He is the current Treasurer and Secretary of the IADR Salivary Research Group.
