Nation’s newest dental school to host ground-breaking national meeting on oral HIV testing
Posted: April 19, 2006MESA, Ariz. (Apr. 19, 2006 ) – The Arizona School of Dentistry & Oral (ASDOH) will be hosting an innovative national meeting sponsored by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Association of Community Health Centers, Inc., “Testing for HIV During Routine Dental Visits: Practical Considerations and Strategies for Implementation,” beginning Friday April 21 at 1 p.m. and continuing Saturday, April 22. The meeting will be hosted on the campus of A.T. Still University in Mesa, Arizona and at the Arizona Golf Resort Hotel and Conference Center.
Leaders in community-based oral health HIV/AIDS treatment will explore the practical aspects of testing for HIV in the dental setting; how testing can be best integrated into clinical operations and the clinical settings in which testing appears most feasible; and the adjustments that need to be made to overall operational flow and processes.
ASDOH Dean Jack Dillenberg, D.D.S., a noted nationwide expert on oral healthcare and innovative dental education technologies, will be the keynote speaker at the event.
“A.T. Still University and ASDOH have been long-time partners with the NACHC because of our shared commitment to public health,” Dr. Dillenberg said. “The ideas and results of this meeting could potentially affect future dental visits in the U.S.”
The meeting will provide the opportunity to discuss current practices and opinions regarding HIV testing in dental clinics and areas for collaboration. “Information from the meeting,” according to Tom Curtin, MD, Chief Medical Officer of NACHC, “will help the nation’s Community Health Centers integrate Center for Disease Control and vention’s new strategies for diagnosing HIV infections outside the traditional medical setting.”
ASDOH is the nation’s newest dental school, established in 2003, and utilizes an advanced, innovative educational model that better prepares its students to become high quality dentists and to serve underrepresented communities across the United States and abroad. Students currently take the national board exams after their first year, instead of the second year as practiced in traditional models, and are passing at a 93 percent rate. The first class will graduate May 19, 2007.
For more information, contact Rodric Bradford, director of public relations for A.T. Still University – Mesa, at 480.219.6015 or rbradford@atsu.edu.