Thankam P. Thyvalikakath, DMD, MDS, PhD

Contact : tpt@iu.edu

Access to better information improves decision-making at the clinician and patient level.

Initiatives

Informatics

Research Scientist, Clem McDonald Center for Biomedical Informatics, Regenstrief Institute
Director, Dental Informatics, Indiana University School of Dentistry and Regenstrief Institute
Associate Dean, Office of Dental Informatics and Digital Health, Indiana University School of Dentistry
Professor, Indiana University School of Dentistry

Dr. Thankam Thyvalikakath is a health informatics researcher and dentist with advanced training in oral & maxillofacial surgery. She is the Founding Director of Dental Informatics at the Indiana University School of Dentistry and Regenstrief Institute. As the director, she has created a program designed to pursue the School’s missions with research, teaching, information technology services and clinical care. Previously (2006-2013), she was faculty at the University of Pittsburgh School of Dental Medicine and the Department of Biomedical Informatics, University of Pittsburgh, PA.

Dr. Thyvalikakath earned her PhD degree in Biomedical Informatics from the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. She also holds a dental degree and certificate in clinical research from the University of Pittsburgh as well as a dental degree from the University of Kerala, India and a master’s degree in Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery from the University of Calicut, India. She has served as principal Investigator, co-investigator or consultant on National Institutes of Health grants. Her research focuses on leveraging electronic health record data for clinical research and quality improvement purposes; applying user-centered design and cognitive engineering methods to design clinical systems that better support clinicians’ decision-making processes; implementation and evaluation of clinical decision support systems; and facilitating health information exchange to promote coordinated care between medical and dental care providers.

Featured Projects

Development and evaluation of patient medical summary from health information exchange to improve dental care

(NIH NIDCR) (2022-2026)

Role: Principal Investigator

This application aims to develop and evaluate a usable patient medical summary (PMS) imported from the state-wide community Indiana Health Information Exchange (IHIE) that updates a dental clinician (DC) about their patients’ medical history and can be used even in solo- and small-group dental practice settings. The two primary outcomes are reducing dental clinicians’ reliance on patients and physicians’ office for information that delays treatment and reducing patients’ burden to share information with DCs. The proposed study will lay the foundation for bidirectional communication between dental and medical professionals that enhances dental and overall care among the US population, promotes preventive management, and reduces dental care costs.

Evaluation of Oral Health and Dental Treatment Outcomes of Sjögren’s Syndrome (SS) Patients

(NIDCR) (2020-2023)

Role: Principal Investigator

This project aims to validate the study cohort of SS diagnosis and oral hard tissue findings, characterize dental caries outcomes and assess the longevity of dental restorations using linked dental and medical electronic health records (EHR) of patients with confirmed SS from the IU School of Dentistry and Indiana Network for Patient Care respectively.

Evaluation of the SCALED (SCaling AcceptabLE cDs) Approach for the Implementation of Interoperable CDS for Venous Thromboembolism Prevention

(AHRQ) (2022-2025)

Role: Site Principal Investigator

This project will scale (via a hybrid type 2 stepped wedge randomized effectiveness-implementation trial) and rigorously evaluate an interoperable clinical decision support system (CDS) across our collaborative CDS community for venous thromboembolism prevention. Via mixed-methods, we will study implementation guided by the EPIS implementation framework throughout scaling. Finally, we will pilot an approach for “Living Guideline” development and use that to update and sustain evidenced-based decision logic within a centrally- housed interoperable CDS knowledge repository.

Assessing malnutrition risk screening tool in dental settings

(Delta Dental Foundation) (2022-2023)

Role: Mentor to Principal Investigator Grace G. Felix Gomez

Implementing health information exchange access in dental practices

(Delta Dental Foundation) (2023-2024)

Role: Mentor to Principal Investigator Shuning Li

Highlighted Publications

May 22, 2023

Characteristics of Chemosensory Perception in Long COVID and COVID Reinfection

Publication: Journal of Clinical Medicine

doi: 10.3390/jcm12103598

Authors: Jaramillo M, Thyvalikakath TP, Eckert G, Srinivasan M.

Mar 8, 2023

Developing Automated Computer Algorithms to Track Periodontal Disease Change from Longitudinal Electronic Dental Records

Publication: Diagnostics (Basel, Switzerland)

doi: 10.3390/diagnostics13061028

Authors: Patel JS, Kumar K, Zai A, Shin D, Willis L, Thyvalikakath TP

May 20, 2022

Findings and Future Directions from a Smoking Cessation Trial Utilizing a Clinical Decision Support Tool

Publication: Journal of Evidence-Based Dental Practice

doi: 10.1016/j.jebdp.2022.101747

Authors: Rindal DB, Kottke TE, Jurkovich MW, Asche SE, Enstad CJ, Truitt AR, Ziegenfuss JY, Romito LM, Thyvalikakath TP, O'Donnell J, Spallek H

May 12, 2022

Retrospective Study of the Reasons and Time Involved for Dental Providers' Medical Consults

Publication: Frontiers in Digital Health

doi: 10.3389/fdgth.2022.838538

Authors: Li S, Williams KS, Medam JK, Patel JS, Gonzalez T, Thyvalikakath TP

May 12, 2022

Root Canal Treatment Survival Analysis in National Dental PBRN Practices

Publication: Journal of Dental Research

doi: 10.1177/00220345221093936

Authors: Thyvalikakath T, LaPradd M, Siddiqui Z, Duncan WD, Eckert G, Medam JK, Rindal DB, Jurkovich M, Gilbert GH; National Dental PBRN Collaborative Group

Mar 28, 2022

How Do Dental Clinicians Obtain Up-To-Date Patient Medical Histories? Modeling Strengths, Drawbacks, and Proposals for Improvements

Publication: Frontiers in Digital Health

doi: 10.3389/fdgth.2022.847080

Authors: Li S, Rajapuri AS, Felix Gomez GG, Schleyer T, Mendonca EA, Thyvalikakath TP

Apr 7, 2022

Nutritional Assessment of Denture Wearers Using Matched Electronic Dental-Health Record Data

Publication: Journal of Prosthodontics

doi: 10.1111/jopr.13505

Authors: Felix Gomez GG, Cho SD, Varghese R, Rajendran D, Eckert GJ, Bhamidipalli SS, Gonzalez T, Khan BA, Thyvalikakath TP

Oct 11, 2021

Can Salivary Innate Immune Molecules Provide Clue on Taste Dysfunction in COVID-19?

Publication: Frontiers in Microbiology

doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2021.727430

Authors: Ermel A, Thyvalikakath TP, Foroud T, Khan B, Srinivasan M

Aug 19, 2021

Longevity of Crown Margin Repairs Using Glass Ionomer Cement: A Retrospective Study

Publication: Operative Dentistry

doi: 10.2341/20-062-C

Authors: Watson JI, Patel JS, Ramya MB, Capin O, Diefenderfer KE, Thyvalikakath TP, Cook NB

Nov 1, 2021

Differences in medication usage of dental patients by age, gender, race/ethnicity and insurance status

Publication: Technology and Health Care

doi: 10.3233/THC-202171

Authors: Siddiqui Z, Wang Y, Patel J, Thyvalikakath T

Mar 2021

Does Nonsurgical Periodontal Treatment Improve Systemic Health?

Publication: Journal of Dental Research

doi: 10.1177/0022034520965958

Authors: Taylor HL, Rahurkar S, Treat TJ, Thyvalikakath TP, Schleyer TK

Aug 20, 2020

Structuring, reuse and analysis of electronic dental data using the Oral Health and Disease Ontology

Publication: Journal of Biomedical Semantics

doi: 10.1186/s13326-020-00222-0

Authors: Duncan WD, Thyvalikakath T, Haendel M, Torniai C, Hernandez P, Song M, Acharya A, Caplan DJ, Schleyer T, Ruttenberg A

In The News

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Thankam P. Thyvalikakath, DMD, MDS, PhD

Featured Projects

Highlighted Publications