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The Dangers Of STDs In The Dental Practice

The Dangers Of STDs In The Dental Practice
by Terri Lively

What every dental professional needs to know about contracting STDs in the dental practice.

Many dental professionals think that if they refrain from unprotected sex with an infected person at the dental office, they are safe from contracting a sexually transmitted disease (STD) there. But they are wrong.

The fact is you could contract a number of STDs at your office without engaging in sexual contact, including:

· Hepatitis B (HBV)

· Hepatitis C (HCV)

· Herpes Simplex 2 (HSV2)

· Human Immunodeficiency virus (HIV)

· Human Papilloma Virus (HPV)

Infections can occur through exposure to an infected person’s blood, which can occur through splashes to unprotected eyes, nose or mouth, as well as percutaneous injuries. In the case of HSV2 and HPV, infections can occur through exposure to an infected person’s saliva. In addition, you could sustain exposure to many viruses including the other human herpes viruses (there are eight in all), influenza and Epstein-Barr. You could even end up exposed to diseases like measles, mumps, rubella and polio—and this list is far from comprehensive.

The fact is you could be exposed to all kinds of bacterium, viruses and other microorganisms that cause disease in the dental office.

Or you could be exposed if you don’t take the universal precautions as specified by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) or the standard precautions by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC).

Read full article on DentalProductsReport.