Sydney dental patients face anxious wait

Patients of four Sydney dental practices are being urged to get blood tests after revelations lax hygiene may have put them at risk of HIV and hepatitis.

Stock image of a patient being treated by a dentist. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Wednesday 18 October, 2006. Photo credit should read: Matthew Fearn/PA Source: Press Association

Thousands of Sydney dental patients are facing an anxious wait after being told lax hygiene at four practices may have put them at risk of HIV and hepatitis.

Six practitioners have been suspended over non-compliant practices that might have exposed up to 12,000 people to blood-borne diseases.

Patients who underwent invasive procedures at The Gentle Dentist, in Campsie and the CBD, have been urged to have their blood tested.

So have patients of the Bondi and Surry Hills practices of Dr Robert Starkenburg.

NSW Health says there has been no evidence of transmission and that the risk of infection is low.