Diabetes and oral health

NEW YORK--The links between oral disease and other systemic health issues are well known. While some 65% of people in the U.S. have periodontal disease, the rate is 90% among individuals with diabetes. Yet there continues to be little to no connection between the medical and dental care that patients receive.

To read more about periodontal disease, go to periodontal disease.

A May 4, 2011, scientific symposium at the New York Academy of Sciences will bring together physicians, physician assistants, nurse practitioners, endocrinologists, dentists, periodontists, dental hygienists, epidemiologists, public health and nursing professionals, and basic researchers to examine the bidirectional relationship between oral disease and diabetes.

The daylong “Diabetes and Oral Disease: Implications for Health Professionals” symposium will feature presentations by more than a dozen experts in dentistry and diabetes, and is designed to provide practitioners with tools for enhancing the quality of health-care delivery and improving patient outcomes.

A keynote address by William C. Knowler, MD, DrPH, National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, National Institutes of Health, will discuss the need for collaboration among medical and dental care professionals to improve the health of individuals with diabetes.

Presented by the Columbia University College of Dental Medicine, the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, and the New York Academy of Sciences, this symposium offers participants the opportunity to earn up to 6.5 continuing education credits.

WHAT: Diabetes and Oral Disease: Implications for Health Professionals

WHO: Organizers
David A. Albert, DDS, MPH
Columbia University College of Dental Medicine

Evie Lalla, DDS, MPH
Columbia University College of Dental Medicine

Ira Lamster, DMD, MMSc
Columbia University College of Dental Medicine

Rudolph L. Leibel, MD
Naomi Berrie Diabetes Center
Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons

WHEN: Wednesday, May 4, 2011 | 7:30 a.m. - 6 p.m.

WHERE: The New York Academy of Sciences
7 World Trade Center, 250 Greenwich St., 40th floor, NYC

Support for “Diabetes and Oral Disease: Implications for Health Professionals” is provided by Oral Health America, Aetna Dental, Colgate-Palmolive Institute for Oral Health, and the Life Technologies Foundation.

For more information, see www.nyas.org/dentaldiabetes.

A free podcast featuring interviews with several symposium presenters is available online at www.nyas.org/dentaldiabetespodcast.

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