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Grant
to Provide Dental
Care Over the next three years, HIV-positive patients in central Louisiana will receive affordable oral health care, thanks to a $1 million grant. The federal money - awarded by the Health Resources and Services Administration - will go to Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center School of Dentistry's dental clinic at the England Airpark campus of Huey P. Long Medical Center. Twelve Health Resources and Services Administration grants recently were awarded nationwide. The HIV oral health-care program also will receive $75,000 of Ryan White Title II funds. Money will be used to fund patient care, salaries and education to central Louisiana dentists. Two significant barriers to oral health care are transportation and a lack of funding available to low-income or indigent HIV-positive patients. Transportation will be provided through gas vouchers or transportation serviced of the Health Enrichment Network in Oakdale. "This grant would not have been awarded if we didn't already have a successful community services clinic in place," said Eric Hovland, dean of LSU Health Sciences Center's School of Dentistry. The Rapides Foundation provided more than $783,000 in the form a three-year grant, which allowed the original dental clinic to get started at England Airpark in 1998. Since then, the Huey P. Long dental clinic has provided more than 24,000 oral health-care services and logged more than 18,000 patient visits. LSUHSC dental and hygiene students and general-dentistry residents provide the oral health care. The HIV oral health-care program will work the same way. Services will be provided to HIV-positive patients from Avoyelles, Catahoula, Concordia, Grant, LaSalle, Rapides, Vernon and Winn parishes. Last year, these eight rural parishes ranked third among nine regions in rates of newly diagnosed HIV/AIDS cases. Baton Rouge and New Orleans, respectively, have higher rates. "There's a great need for these services here," Hovland said. There were 21 per 100,000 newly diagnosed HIV/AIDS cases in eight Cenla parishes in 2001. "The next three years will be very challenging," said Janet Leigh, associate professor of dentistry at LSUHSC's School of Dentistry and principal grant investigator. "We have a lot
to do. But, I want
the federal government
to look at us in
three years and say,
'If you want to provide
HIV dental care and
want to do it properly,
Alexandria, La.,
is where you want
to look.'"
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