Hepatitis B carrier and Oral surgery

[jga]

Hi guys

I've been attending a dental school on the east coast for 2 years now. My dream was to specialize in oral surgery. I've stumbled onto a problem though. I found out that I'm a Hepatitis B carrier. I have a very low viral load and I'm antigen e negative, which means that I have very low infectivity potential.

I honestly don't know what to do. I have so many questions, so I figured I'd ask here. I hope that a practicing OS or a resident can give me some advice. My questions are:

• Are there programs that I'm not able to apply to?

• Are there programs that I can apply to?

• Any advice or suggestions about what I should do next?

• Should I reveal this during my interview or wait until I submit my immunization records?

• Who can I contact at a particular program in order to find out more information about my predicament?

Thanks in advance,
Anonymous Dental Student

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[drhobie7]

Frankly I don't see why that would be a problem. The fact is you're more likely to get exposed to a patient's blood/spit/plaque than a patient get exposed to yours. Probably the highest risk time is putting on archbars. Those bastards! I would go for it if I were you. And I wouldn't disclose anything. That's your medical record and it's your business.

 

[doonga]

In a nutshell as long as u strictly follow the universal precautions and keep urself under medical care ,being infected with HIV,HBV OR HCV cant prevent u from performing EPP(exposure prone procedures).
check the folloing links hope u find the helpful and goodluck with ur decision whatever it s gana be!
http://www.shea-online.org/Assets/files/guidelines/BBPathogen_GL.pdf
http://www.hivlawandpolicy.org/resources/view/167
http://www.dentalprotection.org/unitedkingdom/newsnevents/tippingpoint

 

[Tstarfish]

I remember reading an old post about this in the dental section I think....
I think the answer was generally-
It is a state by state basis. Some states do not grant you a license so you could not attend a residency in the state. Some dental schools do not accept based Hep B status (due to the fact that their state will not grant a dental license) If I remember correctly, Tuffs is ones of the schools that will not accept you. So you might start by calling each state board to rule out schools.
It seems that universal precautions should be standard-but these rules prob date back to the cases of a few dentists that purposely gave patients Hep.
If I were in your position- I would have someone else call anonymously and get your answers for each program you are applying to.