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October 7, 2009 | dentalproductsreport.com Flip the script: HIV in the For a long time, any discussion of HIV/AIDS in the dental office centered on infection control. One new product hopes to expand that conversation.  Photo: Somos/Veer/Getty Images For reasons justified and unjustified, HIV/AIDS is a touchy subject for many dentists. While the public discourse has helped ferret out certain stereotypes and misinformation, in many dental practices staff still focus on how to prevent HIV/AIDS transmission rather than how best to treat a person living with the disease. This is changing, but slowly. VIP Smiles, a boutique cosmetic dental practice in the heart of Manhattan, is known more for smile makeovers than HIV testing. They’re the type of practice that promotes the use of Invisalign, Snap-on Smile, Zoom! whitening and veneers. But under the direction of Dr. Catrise Austin, the practice is building on its “Hollywood smiles” reputation to include new services such as OraQuick ADVANCE® Rapid HIV-1/2 Antibody Test. For her, this is just the next step in providing better care for her patient base. Below, we interview Dr. Austin and Ron Ticho, VP of Corporate Communications for OraSure Technologies Inc., on what this service entails, how patients are responding, and what it can mean for the practice. DPR: In June 1981, the CDC issued its first warning about a rare form of pneumonia, which later was determined to be AIDS-related. It’s been almost 30 years since HIV/AIDS first appeared on the health community’s radar. How do you think dentists’ attitudes towards treating patients with HIV/AIDS have changed in that time? Dr. Austin: Under the Americans with Disabilities Act (AwDA), dentists have a legal obligation to treat patients with HIV/AIDS. I believe that over the past 28 years we as healthcare providers have become more educated (and less ignorant) about the disease and have become less prejudice towards those suffering from HIV/AIDS. Dentists who have been properly educated and practice universal precautions are more likely to have more positive attitudes today and are not concerned about contracting HIV/AIDS during treatment. DPR: For a long time, anyone referring to HIV/AIDS in the dental office was probably lecturing on infection control and protecting oneself from the spread of disease. OraSure is flipping the script by focusing on HIV testing instead. Do you think dentists are ready to change the conversation with patients? Dr. Austin: I certainly hope so. Talking about HIV infections should come as natural as talking about gum infections and caries which, if not diagnosed and treated could also lead to life threatening illnesses. In the past, I think that the stigma of HIV/AIDS being just a homosexual disease or only found in drug users made a lot of people, including dentists, uncomfortable talking about HIV. Now that we know that no one is exempt from contracting the disease, we have a clear understanding how the disease is spread, and with the recent news that there is now hope for a possible HIV vaccine in the near future, I think that dentist should feel comfortable with changing the conversation with patients. I build great relationships with my patients so I find it pretty easy to bring up the conversation of HIV testing. If the dentist is shy and embarrassed about discussing HIV, then the patients will pick that up and be less likely to consent to the service. We bring up HIV testing in a very matter of fact manner like we would any other new service or product that we offer. DPR: VIP Smiles is one of the first practices certified and trained to offer the test. What made you want to introduce a product like this in your practice? Dr. Austin: I’ve always been interested in learning about HIV/AIDS. I feel the problem is that the general population doesn’t think that it can happen to them so many people are not getting tested. In addition, surprisingly I learned that many private practice physicians do not routinely offer HIV testing to their patients because it requires separate informed consent (thus more paperwork) and the blood work takes extra patient time. The end result is that we have a population with staggering HIV numbers. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than 1.1 million people in the United States are infected with HIV, and 232,700 don’t know it. CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE
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