Percutaneous exposures to HIV-infected blood. Among dental workers enrolled in the CDC Needlestick Study

The authors found that 19 percutaneous exposures among dental workers occurred both during and after use of instruments such as syringe needles and scalers. Specific information about the device and action associated with an exposure is important for prevention efforts, including safer instruments and work practices. Most of these exposures probably involved smaller, rather than larger, amounts of blood infected with the human immunodeficiency virus. To our knowledge, none of the exposures resulted in HIV transmission to an enrolled dental worker.