AIDS and dentistry in Australia: knowledge, infection control practices and attitudes to treatment in a random sample of Australian dentists.

1130 dentists surveyed by mail from Australian capital cities (response rate 80%) answered a questionnaire on knowledge of clinical manifestations of AIDS and HIV, attitudes to treatment and referral of AIDS/HIV patients, infection control practices and personal risk factors for HIV. Despite a third of dentists being willing to treat HIV antibody-positive patients and 22% being willing to treat AIDS patients, over 50% believe AIDS to be a major problem for dentists, with two thirds claiming that their staff would not treat AIDS patients and 55% believing they would lose patients if word spread that they were treating HIV/AIDS patients. The perhaps irreconcilable tension between variable willingness to treat and the concerns of staff and other patients suggests that a policy of improving the dental referral network among people with AIDS may be in the best interests of the dental health and well-being of people with AIDS.