The KaVo Kerr Group has donated a panoramic imaging system and provided onsite training in Ghana for a New York University (NYU) College of Dentistry research team investigating periodontal disease in 220 patients with diabetes in that country.
The research team went to a hospital in Accra, Ghana, and conducted a health history, hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) measurement, and panoramic radiograph to assess the percentage of bone loss around each patient's teeth.
"HbA1c is a way to measure sugar glucose in the blood; the goal for people with diabetes is a level less than 7%, but we saw were as high as 13%," stated Stuart M. Hirsch, DDS, NYU's vice dean of international initiatives, development, and students, in a KaVo Kerr press release. "We would take the HbA1c measurements right before the panoramic digital pan. In my opinion, without this equipment to tell us the bone levels, this prevalence study would not have occurred."
As data collection is complete, a group of NYU postdoctoral students will help Dr. Hirsch analyze the data. He believes that there will be strong correlations between diabetes and periodontal disease, shown by the loss of bone and soft tissue.
"Our partnership with KaVo Kerr Group is an example of how educators and the dental industry need one another. There is -- or there needs to be -- a relationship in order to move forward ideas and desires on both ends," Dr. Hirsch stated. "We cannot exist in isolation."
