Last month we wrote about a dentist in another state who may have infected his patients with several diseases including hepatitis C. While residents of the state of Pennsylvania were likely relieved that the incident was not in their state, they may now want to pay attention to a warning that was recently issued by the Pennsylvania Department of Health. Patients of a certain Pennsylvania dentist should be aware of infections they could have contracted in the course of dental visits.

Because of a problem in the way devices used with many patients were cleaned, leaving them unsterilized, patients may have been exposed to hepatitis C, hepatitis B and HIV. The procedures patients may have undergone include the removal of teeth, denture fittings and fillings of cavities performed by the woman.

The warning is the result of a visit the departments of Health and State conducted earlier this spring. That visit also lead to a temporary suspension of the woman's dental license. Thus far no one has reported contracting any of the infections.

Only procedures conducted by the dentist are believed to have been problematic. This means that most patients who saw other employees for routine cleanings do not currently need to be worried about being tested for  the infections.

The lack of any positive reports of infection so far does not mean that all are in the clear. For this reason anyone who was treated by the woman is being advised to be tested for the infections. Should tests reveal any instances of the infections, those individuals lives would be changed forever. This would likely prompt those individuals to file medical malpractice lawsuits.

Source: WHTM, "Pa. says York dental patients at risk for infection," Myles Snyder, June 4, 2013