Hepatitis C virus infection and its dental implications

: In the last two decades dentists and other dental workers have been called attention to the risk of infection with blood-borne pathogens by a few reports. Before Hepatitis B vaccine became available in 1982, dentists and oral surgeons were reported to have a higher prevalence of Hepatitis B Virus (HBV) than other health-care workers and the general population. The first cases of AIDS were recognised in 1981, and in 1988 dentists infected with Human Immunodeficiency Virus was already registered without any other potential risk factor except his occupation. Hepatitis C Virus (HCV), a positive stranded RNA virus was isolated for the first time from a chronically infected chimpanzee by a human VIII factor concentrate. Now HCV is regarded to be the cause of most cases of non-A-non-B hepatitis. Although the risk of HCV infection among health-care workers is lower than it was in the case of HBV infection, there is some evidence of occupational transmission of HCV. The lack of effective vaccine, the proportion of chronic infections, and the limited success of therapy emphasises the importance of the problem for the dentists in practice. In this report the authors surveyed the epidemiology, transmission, and nature of HCV infection, and suggested some possible connection between the virus and certain oral diseases. The authors expounded some general aspects of management of HCV-infected patients in the dental practice and underlined the importance of preventing occupational transmission.