Transmission of HIV in a dental practice--the facts

There is compelling evidence that six patients of a Florida dentist were infected with HIV at the dental practice. The strain of HIV in the dentist and patients was virtually identical. There is no evidence that either lapses in infection control or deliberate attempts to infect patients were responsible for this cluster of cases. Recent media analyses have emphasised that handpieces should be taken seriously as a potential source of cross infection but no evidence is available to confirm this as the route in the Florida practice. The unusual circumstances leading up to the detection of this cluster suggest that there could be other undetected cases and clusters.