Grant Enables Dental Clinic to Add Diabetes Screening to Its Roster of Services

The Texas Tech Dental Oral Health Clinic in El Paso has received a $114,944 grant from the Paso del Norte Health Foundation to enable clinicians to screen patients for diabetes. The clinic serves residents of the borderplex area (city on the border of the United States and Mexico). Beginning this past February, the program provides patients with an American Diabetes Association risk test. Those who score five or higher undergo an HbA1c diagnostic test. Referrals to appropriate healthcare professionals and help navigating healthcare systems are then provided by community health workers. The clinic, which is part of the Hunt School of Dental Medicine, also offers low-cost dental care to borderplex residents. In the El Paso area, 16.9% of adults have diabetes. Click here to read more.