Norton at Press Conference with Dentists Introduces Bill for Dental Care as Important Tool for Early Detection and Spread of HIV/AIDS

Norton at Press Conference with Dentists Introduces Bill for Dental Care as Important Tool for Early Detection and Spread of HIV/AIDS

Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) today stood at a press conference with Howard University Dental School deans, dental students, and the Director of Dental Services of the Whitman-Walker Clinic as she filed a bill key to the detection of HIV/AIDS and helping to stop its spread in D.C. The Dedicated Dental Service for HIV/AIDS Act (DDS for HIV/AIDS Act) offers tuition loan repayment relief similar to what physicians and nurses receive, in order to address a sharply diminishing supply of dentists in the U.S., particularly dentists who serve people with HIV/AIDS. Joining the Congresswoman at the press conference at the Louis Stokes Health Sciences Library were Howard University School of Dentistry Dean, Dr. Leo Rouse; Associate Dean of Dentistry; Dr. Ryle Bell; and Dr. Patrick Hughes, Director of Dental Services at the Whitman-Walker Clinic.

Norton said, "Howard University professors of dentistry inform us that the first indicators of HIV/AIDS infection are often oral health problems. They also serve as important benchmarks for disease progression. Thus, access to dental services is especially important in big cities like the District of Columbia and rural areas where one of the most serious problems with the spread of the disease is the reluctance of people to be tested for such a disease. Access to dental care is critically important from the earliest onset in such high impact areas."

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