Hi, I recently had to undergo a lot of dental treatment. I have a very big phobia when it comes to getting hiv from the healthcare setting. One concern I have with my dentist is that when he touches things like the overhead lamp and the handles to his drawers while he is working on me, I worry that he also touched them while servicing a previous patient. He said that everything is wiped down after every patient, but if by chance they were not wiped down and the person before me had hiv, what are my chances of contracting the virus? Would the virus die due to exposure to air before I recieved treatment? Also, just how long does it take for the virus to die when it is exposed to air? I can't seem to find an answer to this question. I would really appreciate a response, thank you.

Hi,

Universal precautions were put in place to prevent the transmission of HIV from a health care worker (HCW) to a patient as well as from a patient to a HCW. These have proven to be very successful measures and have greatly limited any risk of transmission of HIV between dental HCWs and patients. Other than the very well documented case in Florida, I am unaware of any other instances of transmission of HIV from a dental HCW to a patient.

Put simply, if the dental office you visit is following the standards set in the Recommended Infection Control Practices for Dentistry, 1993 (located at the following URL: http://www.hivdent.org/infctl/icrecomend.htm) you have nothing to worry about. If you are concerned about the infection control practices of your dentist, please discuss these concerns with him/her.

I hope this helps!

DR