Dental care experience of HIV-infected men in Chicago

Press reports and surveys of dentists in the United States suggest that HIV-infected persons may have considerable difficulty in securing dental care. To determine the actual experience of HIV-infected people, a personal interview survey of 125 HIV-infected patients at three HIV/AIDS clinics in Chicago was conducted. The 61 subjects who sought dental care after learning that they were HIV positive were generally successful. Those who concealed their status encountered no difficulty, but one of 32 who disclosed it was refused care. Twenty-five of 26 dentists who knew their patients had HIV infection chose to treat them. Informed, nonrandom selection of dentists by the persons surveyed may partially explain the apparent discrepancy between their experience and that predicted by formal random surveys of dentists.