Patients at three Eastman Dental clinics are now being offered an HIV screening test when they come in for dental care.
This is a year-long pilot program funded by the state as part of Governor Cuomo's initiative to end the AIDS epidemic by 2020.
Eastman's project coordinator Vera Graham said an initial pilot program turned up one HIV positive result among 655 patients who consented to the screening.
Graham said about half of Eastman patients who are offered the quick screening test agree to it. She said state law requires health professionals to offer voluntary HIV tests to patients between the ages of 13 and 64.
"However, with Eastman Dental Urgent Care Center, we're finding that a lot of patients who show up don't have a primary care provider," Graham said, "And so we take it as our opportunity to offer (HIV screening) to patients who fall through the holes."
The HIV screening will be offered through March 2017 to patients 18 and older at Eastman dental clinics on Main Street in the Sibley Building, Campbell Street next to School # 17, and at the urgent dental care clinic on Elmwood Avenue near Strong Memorial Hospital.
The screening involves swabbing the inside of patient's mouth. Preliminary results come about 20 minutes later, but a blood test must be done to confirm any positive result.
One in eight people who are infected with HIV are unaware of it, according to the Centers for Disease Control.