An article published online in the January 2012 issue of the International Journal of Dental Hygiene reported on an NYU nursing-dental study that found that periodontal patients and dental providers consider the dental visit an opportune occasion for a diabetes screening and generally prefer gingival crevicular blood over finger-stick blood collection for diabetes screening.

The study, led by Dr. Mary Rosedale, assistant professor of nursing, surveyed 120 patients in the NYUCD periodontal program, and conducted in-depth interviews with nine patients, a nurse practitioner, and eight dental providers to assess if oral blood samples drawn from deep pockets of periodontal inflammation can be used to measure hemoglobin A1c, an important gauge of a patient's diabetes status.

Dr. Rosedale's co-investigator on the study was Dr. Shiela Strauss, associate professor of nursing at the NYU College of Nursing and co-director of the Statistics and Data Management Core for NYU's Colleges of Nursing and Dentistry.