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HIV and AIDS in China: Attitudes of dentists towards provision of care and infection control—a pilot study

Abstract Objective To investigate dentists' attitudes, knowledge toward HIV/AIDS and their infection control procedures in the dental surgery. Design Five hundred dentists, working in Wuhan City, China, were randomly selected from the local dental register. A pre-tested self-administered questionnaire was sent to each dentist to explore their attitude to the provision of dental care for HIV and AIDS patients, their knowledge with regard to the risks and spread of HIV and basic infection control procedures undertaken in their practice. Results Two hundred and sixty-seven dentists participated in the survey (response rate 53.4%). Two-thirds of respondents were willing to treat AIDS/HIV-positive patients, but almost 40% had a very poor knowledge of the infection, believing it could not be transferred by blood. It was more commonly believed that saliva was the medium for the transmission of HIV. Sixty-eight per cent (182) of dentists wore gloves routinely, but only 108 (40.3%) of them would change gloves after each patient. Use of sterilizable handpieces was unusual (14%). Conclusion Continuing dental education is needed with regard to infection control, as the level of knowledge regarding HIV transmission was relatively poor. However, information will need to be supplemented by resources to ensure basic infection control materials (e.g. sterilizable handpieces) are also available.