Significant risk versus acceptable risk in dental treatment of HIV-infected individuals

A. Whitehead, J. Hlaudy

Dentists are obligated to treat HIV-infected individuals by legal and professional code regardless of personal bias, level of training, or area of specialty. Refusal to treat HIV-infected individuals irrespective of current disease state constitutes discrimination, which is prohibited by law. Universal precautions receive a preponderance of support among the medical and dental communities, thus making it the common denominator in case law. The 1998 U.S. Supreme Court decision Bragdon v. Abbott offered insight into the interpretation of Title III of the Americans with Disability Act of 1992 as it applies to HIV/AIDS as a disability. The resulting dicta raises interesting questions as to what constitutes significant risk versus what is deemed an acceptable levelof risk to a practitioner treating HIV-infected individuals.