HIV and dentistry: public perceptions from two towns in Kent.

A survey of general public attitudes towards dentists who are HIV-positive or who have AIDS was carried out on two occasions three months apart, in the Kentish towns of Dartford and Tunbridge Wells. The BBC television programme, Panorama discussing this issue was screened between the two survey times. The results show that in general the public in these areas perceive the risk of acquiring HIV infection through dental treatment to be very low: despite this they do not have a great knowledge of cross-infection control procedures in the dental setting.