School of Dentistry researchers publish their work
Researchers in the West Virginia University School of Dentistry recently published articles in two journals.
R. Constance Wiener, D.M.D., Ph.D., professor and chair of the Department of Dental Public Health and Professional Practice, and Gina Graziani, D.D.S., associate professor and chair of the Department of Pediatric Dentistry, published a study titled “The status of children’s dental health in rural Appalachian West Virginia.” Their report found that children living in West Virginia were similar or had slightly more positive outcomes of being more likely to see a dentist and receive specific oral health care treatments compared to children in other parts of the country.
Bayan Abuhalimeh, D.D.S., a resident in the periodontics advanced education program, Christopher Waters, M.S., research labs director, and Dr. Wiener published “Prevalence of screening patients for alcohol use in West Virginia: a cross-sectional observational study.” The study examined the likelihood of alcohol screening at routine healthcare visits among older adults compared to younger adults in West Virginia, and the team found that older adults are disproportionately less likely to receive a screening.
Both articles were published in the Fall issue of the Journal of Appalachian Health.
The Journal of Appalachian Health is a peer-reviewed, open-access journal centered on the health and well-being of people living in the Appalachian region and in other resource-limited settings. The Journal features research reports from a wide range of sources, as well as shorter articles on preliminary research.
In addition, Weiner’s study titled “Association of Long COVID with Vision Difficulties Among Adults in the United States” was published in the Journal of Visual Impairment & Blindness. Co-authors include Mona Pathak, Ph.D., Sophie Mitra, Ph.D., Chan Shen, Ph.D., Hao Wang, M.D., Ph.D., Patricia Findley, Dr.P.H., and Usha Sambamoorthi, Ph.D. The study found that adults with long COVID had higher odds of vision difficulties than those without COVID.
The Journal of Visual Impairment & Blindness is an international peer-reviewed journal of record in the field.
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jw/9/15/25
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