Faculty Profile
Address
630 W. 168th Street
New York, NY 10032
Phone.212-342-3046
Fax.212-342-8558
Education and Training |
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| PhD | New York University | |
Affiliations
Health Services Research Group of the International Association of Dental Research
Carol Kunzel, PhD Clinical Dental Community Health Sociomedical Sciences |
Research Summary
Dr. Carol Kunzel has been an investigator/co-principal investigator on NIH-funded grants for over 20 years, during which time she has had extensive experience with the development of telephone and mail surveys for national, New York State, and New York City samples of dentist practitioners. These survey research projects involve the measurement of dentists’ attitudes, knowledge, clinical behaviors and adherence to practice guidelines, and the identification of influential predictors associated with each, as well as the measurement of and identification of factors associated with dentists’ willingness to treat HIV+ patients. The focus of this latter work has broadened to include dentists’ willingness to treat patients with hepatitis B and tuberculosis. Most recently Dr. Kunzel’s research has focused on dentists’ in-office practices in regard to early oral cancer detection, smoking cessation, management of the diabetic patient, and infection control. In addition Dr. Kunzel has ongoing research in the areas of oral health symptoms and coping strategies of African Americans in Central Harlem and the relation between oral health literacy, utilization of dental services, and oral health among adolescents and their families.
Selected Publications
1. Kunzel C, Lalla E, Albert D, Yin H, Lamster I. On the primary care frontlines: The role of the general dental practitioner in smoking cessation and diabetes management. J Am Dent Assoc, 136:1144-1153, 2005.
2.Kunzel C, Lalla E, Lamster I. Management of the Patient Who Smokes and the Diabetic Patient in the Dental Office, J Periodontology, 77:331-340, 2006.
3. Kunzel C, Lalla E, Lamster I. Dentists’ management of the diabetic patient: Contrasting generalists vs. specialists, Am J Publ Health, In press.
Current Projects
1. Literacy and smoking: a dental clinic-based intervention
The purpose of this research is to assess the functional literacy level of targeted minority dental clinic patients, and to develop a tailored, effective intervention for this group.
2. A survey of hand hygiene practices among general dentists.
The purpose of the research is to assess level of knowledge of hand hygiene guidelines among general dentists in active practice in New York State, their current hand hygiene practices, and their physical assessment of their dominant hand.
3.Survey of Central Harlem adults’ dental symptoms
The purpose of the study is to describe how adults in Central Harlem, who have experienced an oral symptom within the past six months, cope with these symptoms, e.g., their approaches to seeking professional care, lay advice, and their self-care strategies.