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From: th1h+@ANDREW.CMU.EDU (Timothy J. Haggerty)
Newsgroups: sci.med.aids
Subject: Re: AIDS Discrimination with dentists
Message-ID: <1991Apr18.191410.10183@cs.ucla.edu>
Date: 18 Apr 91 18:51:04 GMT
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Unfortunately, your dentist visit is not a flaw in the system, but a
fairly common event.  I had a very similar thing happen eight years ago
(I admitted to syphillis) and had a dentist freak out on me, and
consequently didn't seek dental care for five years.   I have heard this
happening to other people as well.  With the current brouhaha in
Florida, I suspect a lot of dentists who were paranoid/scared/or
homophobic have developed some justification for their actions.

Nevertheless, I think the last thing a PWA needs is to be treated like a
leper.  My dental experience was one of the most disturbing things that
hs happened to me -- to be denied care by a person who has pledged to
help other people (Or are dentists exempt from the  Hypocratic oath, and
rather, just under some pledge to accrue as much capital as possible
while inflicting pain?).

I would suggest, in particular, that this patient leave the care of this
fine practitioner (so knowledgable, in fact, that he can diagnose a
condition that necessarily precludes him from treating the patient in
the time it take us mere mortals to open our mouths) and find a dental
school.  In general, people involved in the education of dentists (both
teachers and students) are very much aware of the risks involved in
caring for the HIV positive, and have some sympathy for the patient. 
Remember, anyone now in dental school has spent their entire career with
the reality of HIV, and is probably less uncomfortable then a
practitioner who has been out of school for (in this particular case,
I'd bet a very long) while.  

And of course, you could threaten to sue his ass, just to throw the fear
of god into him.  Send him a letter detailing your dissatisfaction with
his (supposed) care, and cc it to the Lambda Legal fund for documentary
purposes as well as the American Dental Association.  Anyone who doesn't
want to deal with AIDS should get the fuck out of medicine.