Nutrition Researcher Wins Award

David Dodington, a Master’s Degree student at Brock University in Applied Health Sciences, won a travel award to present original research at the American Society for Nutrition meeting in Washington, DC in December.
By: Dr Peter C Fritz: Periodontics & Implant Dentistry
 
ST. CATHARINES, Ontario - Jan. 30, 2014 - PRLog -- David Dodington was a recipient of The American Society for Nutrition 2013 Advances and Controversies in Clinical Nutrition Travel Award for Graduate and Medical Students and Young Professionals in Washington, DC in December, 2013

The poster presentation, based on original research, was entitled “Vitamin D Status and Periodontal Outcomes after Non-Surgical Periodontal Therapy.”  The American Society of Nutrition made the award based on a number of criteria, including the quality of the research, significance of the findings, presentation of the data, and originality of the research project.  A total of seven students were chosen out of all the student poster presentations to receive a travel award.

Professor Wendy Ward, a Canada Research Chair in Bone and Muscle Development at Brock University, supervises this project  “For David’s research, we are collaborating with a periodontist, Dr. Peter Fritz, to study the extent to which our diet as well as supplement use can help us heal after a non-surgical deep cleaning procedure aimed at treating periodontal disease and preventing tooth loss,” Ward said.

“There is a need for research regarding the relationship between diet and periodontal health,” David said.  “Periodontists have long suspected that there is a close relationship between good nutrition and optimal oral health, but there have been few studies specifically on this topic,” he explained.

Patients in Dr. Fritz’s office who have agreed to participate in the study are asked to fill out questionnaires on their diet.  To control for other variables, patients are also asked to report their age, gender, health history, medications, smoking status, weight, physical activity, and other data.  Blood samples are also taken and analyzed.

“Dr. Fritz and his team keep very careful records regarding initial areas of inflammation in the mouth measured by periodontal pocket depth,” David explained.  “When patients return for follow up periodontal treatment, we look at their charting to determine on a quantifiable basis how much they have improved.  Then, we correlate this data with their nutritional information.”

The ultimate goal is to do an intervention study.  “I would like to design another research project to determine if providing patients with vitamin supplements is a causative factor in improving oral health, ” David said.

Dr. Fritz is very pleased to have a Brock University student researcher working in his practice.  “David’s research has the potential to make a significant contribution to the knowledge base available to periodontists and scientists worldwide,” Dr. Fritz said.  “My team and I travel extensively to bring back leading edge information to the practice.  It’s great to be part of a research project here in the office,” he added.  “David deserves the recognition that his work is receiving.”

Asked about his future plans, David indicated that he may want to pursue a career in medicine or dentistry.

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