Live webinar 8/20/19  

The dental team has been an important part of HIV primary care since the early days of the epidemic when up to 80% of all HIV+ patients would present with an oral manifestation related to disease progression. Recognition of the oral manifestations of HIV infection is important tools in accessing a patient’s overall well-being as they are important indicators of disease progression for those known to be HIV positive and may provide a means of accessing the potential status of those at risk for HIV infection. This presentation will enable the participants to accurately diagnose and manage the most common oral opportunistic infections seen in association with HIV disease. This presentation will also cover how to manage exposure in the dental setting.  

This promising practice describes an initiative designed to increase the number of oral HIV testing conducted during a dental examination.

HIV is no longer a death sentence and widely considered a chronic, manageable disease. Rapid HIV diagnosis and treatment are needed to ensure declines in HIV incidence. With advances in prevention (i.e., pre-exposure prophylaxis) and biomedical science (i.e., undetectable = untransmittable), we now have the tools to end the epidemic. State and federal government agencies are using these tools and data to establish ending the epidemic strategic plans with the goal of addressing the public health crisis of HIV.

Surveillance data, however, suggests that 15% of people living with HIV in the United States are unaware of their HIV infection and remain at risk of transmitting HIV infection. Dentists and dental hygienists were among the first to recognize oral manifestations in people living with HIV in the early days of the epidemic and may still have a role in helping to identify new cases by administering rapid HIV testing in the dental setting. Administering chair-side screenings in the dental setting may help improve health outcomes, address health inequalities, and improve the quality of life of persons at risk for and living with HIV.

David Reznik, DDS. 

It has been 36 years since the first reports of Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS) were reported to the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The dental team has been an important part of HIV primary care since the early days of the epidemic when up to 80% of all HIV+ patients would present with an oral manifestation related to disease progression. Recognition of the oral manifestations of HIV infection are important tools in accessing a patient’s overall well-being as they are important indicators of disease progression for those known to be HIV positive and may provide a means of accessing the potential status of those at risk for HIV infection. This presentation will enable the participants to accurately diagnose and manage the most common oral opportunistic infections seen in association with HIV disease and how to manage an exposure in the dental setting. 

Other topics to be covered include proper dental management for people living with HIV disease, including a discussion of important lab values, and the important role of the oral healthcare team in regards to the clinical management of HIV-infected patients.