I don't have AIDS.

[ddstobe]

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I just want to make a quick comment...

I was about to assist a resident at a dental school a couple days ago, while I was preparing all the instruments for an extraction procedure, she told me to be careful cuz the patient was HIV positive, I was freaked out while I was assisting her. Luckily I didn't poked myself or did anything stupid, but I've been thinking WHAT IF... Have you guys thought about the chances of get this kind of **** from the patients?

I guess we hardly come across or heard of any dum @$$ dentists who accidently poked themselves with something and got infected. I guess many of us don't even care about this minor issue while everybody try so damn hard to get their papers in on time or get ready for the dat, it seems like that is the only thing the pre-dents can think of at this time of the year. It's just like driving a car, we are told to be careful or we try really hard to be careful not to get in any accidents, but I guess **** does happen.

 

[Farantino]

I just want to make a quick comment...

I was about to assist a resident at a dental school a couple days ago, while I was preparing all the instruments for an extraction procedure, she told me to be careful cuz the patient was HIV positive, I was kind of freaking out while I was assisting her. Luckily I didn't poked myself or did anything stupid, but I've been thinking WHAT IF... Have you guys thought about the chances of get this kind of **** from the patients?

chances are very slim unless the patient has cuts or lesions in his/her mouth. Saliva has anti-HIV properties.

 

[ddstobe]

well, it was an surgical extraction procedure, the patient was bleeding like hell. It's really hard to say, the dentist was in a hurry and I was busy handing suture and scissor.

 

[litldime]

I just want to make a quick comment...

I was about to assist a resident at a dental school a couple days ago, while I was preparing all the instruments for an extraction procedure, she told me to be careful cuz the patient was HIV positive, I was kind of freaking out while I was assisting her. Luckily I didn't poked myself or did anything stupid, but I've been thinking WHAT IF... Have you guys thought about the chances of get this kind of **** from the patients?

yea, i've assisted with HIV and hepatitis patients lots of times....the first time freaked me out, just be extra careful....can some one say face shield...

 

[EngDentist]

The specialist I shadowed had a few HIV positive patients. When I asked him about the extra precautions he takes, he said he treats every patient as if they were HIV positive. So he does not do anything different for a HIV patient.

 

[Lonely Sol]

chances are very slim unless the patient has cuts or lesions in his/her mouth. Saliva has anti-HIV properties.

I don't know about saliva having anti-HIV properties. HIV is possibly present in saliva, urine, and tears but there are no cases as of yet of ppl getting HIV from those sources.

*plz correct me if I am wrong!

 

[ddstobe]

!

 

[ddstobe]

If contracting a contagoius disease freaks you out, have you ever thought maybe you shouldn't be in a profession where you are going to be exposed to them? There will be times in your career where a patient has no idea that theyhave a disease and you (not a family medicine physician) are the one who sees the first signs of a disease because you will see them more often than a physician. The thoughts of getting a contagious disease bothers you that much, you will drive yourself crazy all your career. If you follow universal precautions, the chances of catching most diseases is kept to an very low possibility.

I'm all for it even though I'll be risking my life to all kinds of crap, at least I'll die with a DDS or DMD title 😀

 

[Vicarbo]

Well, Hepatitis is scarier than HIV- if you're stuck with a needle from an HIV + patient, it's like a 2% chance of transmission - but with Hepatits, it's a 30% chance! Definately take extra precautions when you know they have a blood borne pathogen- and the rest of the time be really careful too.

 

[Fonz]

I just want to make a quick comment...

I was about to assist a resident at a dental school a couple days ago, while I was preparing all the instruments for an extraction procedure, she told me to be careful cuz the patient was HIV positive, I was kind of freaking out while I was assisting her. Luckily I didn't poked myself or did anything stupid, but I've been thinking WHAT IF... Have you guys thought about the chances of get this kind of **** from the patients?

yes I have assisted on a patient w/ AIDS too and im still a bit freaked about it. I wanna get tested even though I didn't poke myself or anything. It really opened my eyes up and I'm a lot more careful now about that stuff when assisting in general.

 

[tooth decay]

I just want to make a quick comment...

I was about to assist a resident at a dental school a couple days ago, while I was preparing all the instruments for an extraction procedure, she told me to be careful cuz the patient was HIV positive, I was kind of freaking out while I was assisting her. Luckily I didn't poked myself or did anything stupid, but I've been thinking WHAT IF... Have you guys thought about the chances of get this kind of **** from the patients?

The point of universal precautions is that the practitioner needs to assume that every patient he or she treats has a transmitable disease such as HIV or hepatitis virus. 😱

 

[Fonz]

The point of universal precautions is that the practitioner needs to assume that every patient he or she treats has a transmitable disease such as HIV or hepatitis virus. 😱

if you worked in a busy dental office accidents do happen and its easier said than done. but still obviously you don't hear a lot about dentist or doctors catching stuff from their patients but im the type to worry about that sort of thing.

 

[SugarNaCl]

I don't know about saliva having anti-HIV properties. HIV is possibly present in saliva, urine, and tears but there are no cases as of yet of ppl getting HIV from those sources.

*plz correct me if I am wrong!

Yeah, HIV components have definitely been found in saliva at least, but they are generally disrupted and not infectious... theory is that the enzymes and the physical nature of saliva make the environment too harsh for the virus to survive and remain viable (if you want to call it that.)

Anyway, as other posters have said, there are probably TONS of other things far more likely for you to contract from one of your patients... like SARS. j/k

 

[tooth decay]

if you worked in a busy dental office accidents do happen and its easier said than done. but still obviously you don't hear a lot about dentist or doctors catching stuff from their patients but im the type to worry about that sort of thing.

Aside from universal precautions and setting up a good routine in the office to minimize accidents, there is not much one can do. I think they call it an "occupational hazard". This is even more prevalent in medical specialties like OB/GYN where blood is everywhere.

 

[armorshell]

Anyway, as other posters have said, there are probably TONS of other things far more likely for you to contract from one of your patients... like SARS. j/k

Man, I'm way more worried about H5N1 or BSE than SARS 😱

 

[SugarNaCl]

Man, I'm way more worried about H5N1 or BSE than SARS 😱

Oh man...you are right. Those completely slipped my mind and EBOLA too! Some people on this forum are already exhibiting behavioral symptoms of BSE infection

 

[Fuji]

Necrotizing fasciitis is one bug that you don't want to contract.

 

[SugarNaCl]

MMmmmm... can never get enough of the infamous flesh eating bacteria. Looks like half of our gross anatomy dissection is already completed though, score.

 

[ddstobe]

yum, a big piece of juicy steak sounds good right now.

 

[LNinlove]

Fuji,

You totally ruined my day with that! I was scrolling along drinking my starbucks and BAM! I am looking at someones disintegrating leg! Unbelievable! That is why I couldn't be an ER doc...if I saw stuff like that all the time, I would go crazy...

I am gonna go take a shower....thanks Fuji!😉

 

[opd21]

So I just happened to take a class on this last semester and here is what I learned...You do not "catch" HIV the same way you "catch" a cold or a flu virus. Unlike a cold or a flu virus HIV is not, according to the CDC, spread by tears, sweat, coughing, or sneezing. The virus in not transmitted via an infected person's clothes, phone, or toilet seat. HIV is not transmitted through daily contact with infected people, and this includes kissing (first kissing case reported was in 1997 and both people had serious periodontal disease). The saliva is a main source of HIV antibodies and only contain a small amount of infectious HIV.

Just be careful and treat everyone the same because HIV is pandemic and very real

 

[Fuji]

Fuji,

You totally ruined my day with that! I was scrolling along drinking my starbucks and BAM! I am looking at someones disintegrating leg! Unbelievable! That is why I couldn't be an ER doc...if I saw stuff like that all the time, I would go crazy...

I am gonna go take a shower....thanks Fuji!😉

Sorry.

Here's a pretty unicorn chaser to cleanse your eyeballs.

 

[armorshell]

So I just happened to take a class on this last semester and here is what I learned...You do not "catch" HIV the same way you "catch" a cold or a flu virus. Unlike a cold or a flu virus HIV is not, according to the CDC, spread by tears, sweat, coughing, or sneezing. The virus in not transmitted via an infected person's clothes, phone, or toilet seat. HIV is not transmitted through daily contact with infected people, and this includes kissing (first kissing case reported was in 1997 and both people had serious periodontal disease). The saliva is a main source of HIV antibodies and only contain a small amount of infectious HIV.

Just be careful and treat everyone the same because HIV is pandemic and very real

Thank you, for explaining to a forum literally full of various biology majors, how HIV is transmitted.

You forgot to mention how if you're HIV+, you can have sex with a virgin, curing the disease.

 

[LNinlove]

Fuji,

I appreciate that. I feel so much better now!

 

[ddstobe]

Sorry.

Here's a pretty unicorn chaser to cleanse your eyeballs.

Ooch, that's jabby. Where is my eye-drop? j/k 😀

 

[Electrons]

Necrotizing fasciitis is one bug that you don't want to contract.

Is that a bone exposing below the toe?

 

[Electrons]

Sorry.

Here's a pretty unicorn chaser to cleanse your eyeballs.

That horse is naked! You ruined my virgin eyes. 😛

 

[SugarNaCl]

Thank you, for explaining to a forum literally full of various biology majors, how HIV is transmitted.

You forgot to mention how if you're HIV+, you can have sex with a virgin, curing the disease.

This is exactly what I was thinking but was trying not to point out because the poster I thought may be trying to help. I think I learned how HIV was transmitted in 5th grade 😕

Now the virgin idea, well, THAT is an interesting take. I think I'm going to hand out literature with that cure at my first day of orientation and see what kind of reputation I end up with.

 

[SugarNaCl]

AIDS didn't even have a name when I was in 5th grade (other than the gay disease) let alone know how it was transmitted.

HAHA...exactly how old are you? The only reason why I remember in 5th grade was because my 5th grade art teacher said to me "you can get closer to me, it's not like I have AIDS!" I wasn't sure what AIDS was, so I went home and asked my mom. She told me what she knew about it and then I asked my doctor next time I saw her because I was paranoid I was going to get it.

Totally not kidding about the 5th grade thing...but that was in... 1991?

 

[clickytop]

I just want to make a quick comment...

I was about to assist a resident at a dental school a couple days ago, while I was preparing all the instruments for an extraction procedure, she told me to be careful cuz the patient was HIV positive, I was freaked out while I was assisting her. Luckily I didn't poked myself or did anything stupid, but I've been thinking WHAT IF... Have you guys thought about the chances of get this kind of **** from the patients?

I guess we hardly come across or heard of any dum @$$ dentists who accidently poked themselves with something and got infected. I guess many of us don't even care about this minor issue while everybody try so damn hard to get their papers in on time or get ready for the dat, it seems like that is the only thing the pre-dents can think of at this time of the year. It's just like driving a car, we are told to be careful or we try really hard to be careful not to get in any accidents, but I guess **** does happen.

Everyone has AIDS. My father...AIDS. My sister...AIDS. My uncle and my cousin and her best friend. AIDS AIDS AIDS.

....can't believe noone beat me to that.

 

[ddstobe]

Everyone has AIDS. My father...AIDS. My sister...AIDS. My uncle and my cousin and her best friend. AIDS AIDS AIDS.

....can't believe noone beat me to that.

oh thank you, I feel better about myself now. 🙂

 

[pine88]

Don't worry folks. You are much MUCH more likely to die in a car crash on the way to work. No reason to stress about contracting diseases.

Now don't you feel better? 😀

 

[opd21]

Thank you, for explaining to a forum literally full of various biology majors, how HIV is transmitted.

You forgot to mention how if you're HIV+, you can have sex with a virgin, curing the disease.

The only reason I did that is because while this was a biology class I took you would have been amazed at how many people were pre-med or pre-dental that did not actually learn anything until they took the class...and I am known for going a bit far with things

 

[armorshell]

The only reason I did that is because while this was a biology class I took you would have been amazed at how many people were pre-med or pre-dental that did not actually learn anything until they took the class...and I am known for going a bit far with things

No worries, just giving you a hard time. 😛

 

[SugarNaCl]

The only reason I did that is because while this was a biology class I took you would have been amazed at how many people were pre-med or pre-dental that did not actually learn anything until they took the class...and I am known for going a bit far with things

Armor gives everyone a hard time when they first join up. It is sort of an initiation or hazing of sorts. Keeps the ego in check 😉

 

[Sprgrover]

The specialist I shadowed had a few HIV positive patients. When I asked him about the extra precautions he takes, he said he treats every patient as if they were HIV positive. So he does not do anything different for a HIV patient.

When you're a dentist it is expected that you follow a code of universal precautions - meaning you assume every patient is a potential carrier of something. While HIV might seem to be the 400 pound gorilla waiting in the corner, Hep B is 100 times more infectious than HIV, so no matter what they have or what you suspect they have you apply the same precautions to each visit. Also, under the Americans with Disabilities Act, it's illegal to apply extra precautions to patients that are indeed HIV posititve: you can't do anythig different, or treat those patients differently, than you would an HIV negative patient. This means no double gloving, scheduling alternative appointments, having a seperate waiting area, and so on. If you follow universal precautions correctly (wear face mask and eye coverings, gloves, dispose of sharps into sharps containers, properly recap needles, wear leather closed toed shoes, etc.) your stand a greater chance of being struck by lightning there in the operatory than you do of contracting HIV.

 

[ddstobe]

When you're a dentist it is expected that you follow a code of universal precautions - meaning you assume every patient is a potential carrier of something. While HIV might seem to be the 400 pound gorilla waiting in the corner, Hep B is 100 times more infectious than HIV, so no matter what they have or what you suspect they have you apply the same precautions to each visit. Also, under the Americans with Disabilities Act, it's illegal to apply extra precautions to patients that are indeed HIV posititve: you can't do anythig different, or treat those patients differently, than you would an HIV negative patient. This means no double gloving, scheduling alternative appointments, having a seperate waiting area, and so on. If you follow universal precautions correctly (wear face mask and eye coverings, gloves, dispose of sharps into sharps containers, properly recap needles, wear leather closed toed shoes, etc.) your stand a greater chance of being struck by lightning there in the operatory than you do of contracting HIV.

I hope you're joking about no double gloving, I put on 3 pairs of gloves while my dentist put on some special double thicken gloves when preforming the procedure. Every minutes was horror movies.

 

[armorshell]

I hope you're joking about no double gloving, I put on 3 pairs of gloves while my dentist put on some special double thicken gloves when preforming the procedure. Every minutes was horror movies.

That just means you're a discriminatory racist. Why would you discriminate against disabled people like that!?!?!?

 

[ddstobe]

That just means you're a discriminatory racist. Why would you discriminate against disabled people like that!?!?!?

It has nothing to do with discrimination (did you also mention racism??? the connection btw racist and double gloves is beyond me), just extra protection for myself. Ask around, I bet I'm not the only one.

 

[armorshell]

It has nothing to do with discrimination (did you also mention racism??? the connection btw racist and double gloves is beyond me), just extra protection for myself. Ask around, I bet I'm not the only one.

First of all, update your internet sarcasm detector, I was kidding. Second of all, treating HIV+ patients differently than any other patient (even by protecting yourself) IS considered discrimination by the Americans with Disabilities Act.

A little scary no?

 

[ddstobe]

First of all, update your internet sarcasm detector, I was kidding. Second of all, treating HIV+ patients differently than any other patient (even by protecting yourself) IS considered discrimination by the Americans with Disabilities Act.

A little scary no?

Sorry pal, I'm a little tight lately. After the experience of being rebuked and verbally tortured by the d_str_y_r marketing team both in the public and secretly PMs for the past 48 hrs, I'm a little numb yet intense at the same time. To answer your question, I still think it's ok as long as the patients don't know they are being treated a little more gingerly than usual, nothing wrong with being a little more cautious. 😉

 

[ddstobe]

Don't worry folks. You are much MUCH more likely to die in a car crash on the way to work. No reason to stress about contracting diseases.

Now don't you feel better? 😀

It's hard to say, we always hear car accidents on the news but Mr. I-am-dumb DDS don't tell the whole world they are HIV positive (hopfully).

 

[jfitzpat]

.

 

[ddstobe]

 

[jfitzpat]

I would like to correct myself. I did a little further research and found that:

No federal case has ever turned on the question of whether "extra precautions" are discriminatory practice. There is only one state case and it did find that such precautions constituted discrimination. The general feel from people that practice in the area is that it is a really tough call between the dentists right to evaluate a particular situation and discrimination. Sounds like a good idea to make sure that you are always cautious and then everything takes care of itself.

http://www.ada.org/prof/resources/topics/hiv/ethics.asp

 

[armorshell]

I would like to correct myself. I did a little further research and found that:

No federal case has ever turned on the question of whether "extra precautions" are discriminatory practice. There is only one state case and it did find that such precautions constituted discrimination. The general feel from people that practice in the area is that it is a really tough call between the dentists right to evaluate a particular situation and discrimination. Sounds like a good idea to make sure that you are always cautious and then everything takes care of itself.

I absolutely agree. Precautionary measures with an infectious patient are about as discriminatory as wheelchair ramps.

 

[OceanBlue]

You have options: to treat or to refer those patients to another dentist. It is up to you to choose. Personally, I won't judge you if you choose not to treat. Heck, you might have a 4 kids and a wife who depend on you. However, life is full of risks, you can die from just sitting there and watching TV (fat-a$$ disease).

 

[ddstobe]

You have options: to treat or to refer those patients to another dentist. It is up to you to choose. Personally, I won't judge you if you choose not to treat. Heck, you might have a 4 kids and a wife who depend on you. However, life is full of risks, you can die from just sitting there and watching TV (fat-a$$ disease).

haha~ what a disease!!!

You can't refer a patient out because they are HIV positive cuz they can sue you for discriminaton. If you do want to get rid of them, you need to find other excuses.

 

[armorshell]

haha~ what a disease!!!

You can't refer a patient out because they are HIV positive cuz they can sue you for discriminaton. If you do want to get rid of them, you need to find other excuses.

Can you get sued by a patient with extensive periodontal disease for referring them to a specialist? Are you discriminating against a patient with missing teeth because you refer them to an oral surgeon for an implant you aren't comfortable placing?

I really don't see why you shouldn't be able to refer a patient who you don't feel you have the expertise to treat.

 

[jfitzpat]

Can you get sued by a patient with extensive periodontal disease for referring them to a specialist? Are you discriminating against a patient with missing teeth because you refer them to an oral surgeon for an implant you aren't comfortable placing?

I really don't see why you shouldn't be able to refer a patient who you don't feel you have the expertise to treat.

Ah, therein lies the fun. You can't refer them as a pretext to not treat them because they are HIV positive, but you can refer for a legimate reason, ie. you are not qualified or feel someone is better qualified to treat them.

Also on a similar note, as an attorney, I am obliged to say that anything I write here is not my legal opinion and does not constitute legal advice in any way, shape, or form. I know its ridiculous that I need to do that, but you'd be amazed (not really) at what people will sue over.