Dentistry Facility Opens in New Orleans for HIV-Positive Patients
A new dental facility for HIV-positive patients was dedicated Nov. 9 at Charity Hospital in New Orleans, La., the New Orleans Times-Picayune reports. The three-chair office, which is part of the hospital's HIV outpatient clinic, will be a research center as well as a routine care facility. The clinic, operated by the Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center, is open weekdays and is already treating close to 3,000 patients. The clinic will have full-time staff members and a dental resident who will work one day a week. According to the center's clinical coordinator, Dr. Janet Leigh, the clinic's main advantage is that it unites research and clinical care services, which had previously been split between the dental school and hospital. The clinic is a symbol of a new nationwide interest in HIV-related dental problems, she added. "People underestimate the importance of good dental health," Leigh said (Pope, New Orleans Times-Picayune, 11/16).
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