Dentists and HIV: A new resource

Dentists and HIV is the latest professional booklet produced by the Australasian Society for HIV Medicine (ASHM) in response to ongoing confusion in the dental care industry about the management of suspected HIV cases.

The booklet was recently launched at The ADA's Infection Control and Risk Management Seminar that took place in Adelaide. With 17,000 people now living with HIV in Australia and around 1000 new infections each year, the chances of a dentist or dental assistant seeing a patient with HIV is steadily increasing. Although patients are not legally required to disclose their HIV status to their dentist, dentists have a number of legal obligations should they suspect - or are informed - a patient has HIV. Dental assistants, who play a key role in dental care, should also be informed about the practice of managing suspected HIV cases. This 12 page booklet - developed through extensive consultation with clinical dental and medical experts and the HIV/AIDS Legal Centre in NSW and endorsed by the Australian Dental Association (ADA) - addresses such essential topics as: oral manifestations and complications associated with HIV; management of HIV-associated oral conditions; risk and management of occupational exposure; and legal rights and obligations. Dentists and HIV can be downloaded free of charge from www.ashm.org.au/publications and is also available as an interactive online module at www.ashm.org.au/e-learning. To order your copy: call ASHM on (02) 8204-0700.