EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) — Texas Tech Health El Paso has a program where community healthcare workers go into dental waiting rooms and help patients determine if they are at risk for diabetes.
The program is called “Diabetes and the Dentist” and it is a community health initiative of the Hunt School of Dental Medicine, funded by the Paso del Norte Health Foundation.
The program begins with a simple question that most patients have never been asked at a dental appointment: Are you at risk for diabetes?
The program uses community health workers, known as promotores de salud in Spanish.
Maria Land and fellow promotora Laura Renovato work in the Texas Tech Health El Paso’s Community Health and Outreach Education Program. One of their responsibilities is to provide community health education and patient support for the Hunt School of Dental Medicine.
“Some people don’t want to know because they’re not diabetic,” Renovato said. “But others want to know because members of their family are, and they want to prevent it. It’s a good program.”
Together, Land and Renovato help patients move from a dental screening to the next steps in protecting their health. Since the program relaunched in February, they have participated in 19 outreach events at the Oral Health Clinic. Through these events, they’ve connected with more than 600 community members and provided 150 one-on-one diabetes consultations and education, Texas Tech said.
Dental staff use the American Diabetes Association Risk Test and a finger-prick HbA1c test to measure blood sugar, which takes only minutes. Of 281 patients screened at four community dental practices during the current phase, 111, or roughly 40%, were identified as at risk. All 71 patients whose results indicated prediabetes or diabetes were referred the same day to a primary care provider, Texas Tech said.
“Bringing diabetes screening to the dental chair helps close care gaps,” said Hunt School of Dental Medicine Assistant Professor Salma Elwazeer, B.D.S., M.D.S., M.P.H., co-director of the program. “This is especially true for families facing barriers related to cost, transportation or time. This project empowers both patients and dental professionals to improve health outcomes across our community.”
The link between oral health and diabetes is direct: gum disease can worsen blood sugar control, and uncontrolled diabetes accelerates gum disease, Texas Tech said. In the Borderplex region, where diabetes prevalence among adults is 14% and where dentists are among the only healthcare providers some residents see regularly, a dental office becomes more than a place to clean teeth; it becomes a front-line community health resource.
“These screenings have demonstrated value by facilitating earlier detection and timelier intervention for our patients,” said El Paso dentist Paul Ro, D.D.S., who has participated since the program’s launch and also serves as a clinical instructor for the Hunt School of Dental Medicine. “This has been highly beneficial to our practice.”
A new two-year, $124,933 grant from the Paso del Norte Health Foundation will extend the program’s reach by continuing partnerships with two participating private dental offices and establishing partnerships with two more. The grant will also formalize the navigation role Land and Renovato have been performing by training additional promotores de salud to guide at-risk patients through the healthcare system and secure follow-up appointments with primary care physicians, Texas Tech said.
The grant supports training for dental office staff, Hunt School of Dental Medicine students and El Paso Community College dental hygiene students. Together, they provide diabetes education and establish referral pathways to primary care. The program aims to screen 300 to 400 new patients over the next two years.
To schedule an exam and screening at the Texas Tech Dental Oral Health Clinic, call (915) 215-6700.
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