Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 1992. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
Associated Press - Friday, November 20, 1992
Experts said the findings of the study, to be published in Saturday's issue of The Lancet, are plausible, but the risk of catching AIDS from dental tools is probably very low. No such cases of have been reported.
However, finding pieces of HIV, the AIDS virus, in dental tools is "worrisome, mainly because the material was present in internal areas of the equipment that are not readily accessible to chemical germicides," said Dr. David Lewis, microbiologist at the University of Georgia.
The Food and Drug Administration wrote American dentists Sept. 28 advising that "reusable dental hand pieces and related instruments be heat-sterilized between patients."
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