Thousands of British patients are called to go HIV tests and other blood-borne diseases like hepatitis B and hepatitis C. The common point of these patients is to have had their teeth treated by an unscrupulous dentist, accused of not having respected any hygiene measures during his 32-year career.
Desmond D’Mello, now dubbed “the dentist with dirty hands” by the British press, was suspended from his duties a few months ago after a person (no one knows if it is a patient or a member of the dental office) filmed him on a hidden camera in order to show his non-compliance with hygiene measures. This video showed him treating 166 patients over a three-day period and committing hygiene violations. She also revealed that the dentist stored his equipment in the toilet, in the middle of worn mops, did not wash his hands and did not change gloves between two patients.
Britain’s Department of Health has therefore recommended that all patients treated by Dr D’Melo at his dental practice in Gedling, Nottingham, be screened.
“The dentist is not a carrier of any blood-borne diseases, but failure to comply with hygiene measures always entails a risk for patients. This risk is low, but we still advise them to contact medical services as a precautionary principle” explain the health authorities.
However, British police are investigating a possible link between the death of a 23-year-old woman in August 2013 and the treatment she received at this dental office a few months earlier.
