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One out of 20 Los Angeles-area dentists won’t treat a patient with HIV or AIDS, according to a new study.
The study was compiled by the Williams Institute at the University of Los Angeles, California. Among the 612 dental offices polled, roughly 5 percent indicated they would not treat patients living with HIV.
This study was released because December 1 is World AIDS Day.
The answer most dentists provided for not treating HIV patients is that the surgery was not fully capable of managing the virus. Still, about 90 percent of dentists in the Los Angeles-area were open to treating HIV patients and 5 percent required special requirements for HIV patients.
The numbers reflected in this study were a stark contrast from other health industries. Roughly 25 percent of plastic surgeons, 46 percent of specialist nursing facilities and 55 percent of obstetricians had some kind of measures that existed that would be considered discriminatory against HIV and AIDS patients.
Discrimination was more prevalent in areas where the amount of HIV cases was higher. This tended to be the case in poorer areas.
The legislation and education about the virus currently in place in dental schools has lowered possible discrimination that may have been prevalent in the past.
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