HIV positive dentists permitted to practice in Europe

The ability of oral healthcare professionals to continue practisingin the event that they are diagnosed as HIV positive has been the subject of research conducted by Dental Protection in conjunction with the Council of European Dentists. Click here to view data

The indicates that the countries of Europe are almost evenly split between those where the dentist is able to work, and the situation that exists in the UK where the dentist must immediately stop working. The evidence base was recently reviewed at the 6th World Workshop on Oral Health and Disease in AIDS which produced a consensus statement known as the Beijing Declaration. The proceedings of the Workshop and the references will be published later this year in Advances in Dental Research which is an e-supplement of the Journal of Dental Research.

Meanwhile the appropriate committees in the UK are currently reviewing the situation of UK healthcare workers with blood-borne disease. It remains to be seen who will be the first to publish.