\All patients of a certain Guelph dental practice over a 2.5-year period are being urged to get tested for hepatitis B, hepatitis C and HIV.
Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph Public Health announced Friday that they were sending letters to all known patients of Guelph Dental Associates between Jan. 21, 2015 and June 21, 2017.
They say there is a low risk that anyone in that category may have been infected because some dental instruments were not being sterilized properly.
“The risk is not zero,” Dr. Nicola Mercer, the area’s medical officer of health, said in an interview.
“Because there is a risk – a small risk – we are asking that patients of this clinic be tested.”
Public health inspectors discovered the issue on Wednesday, after receiving a complaint about the clinic on Tuesday. Following an inspection, they closed the business.
They say it won’t reopen until it is able to sterilize its equipment to standards set out by the Royal College of Dental Surgeons of Ontario.
“All professionals must adhere to those standards, and in this case those standards were not being adhered to,” Mercer said.
Any patients concerned about how they may have been affected should contact their doctor.
Guelph Dental Associates operates out of a building at 380 Eramosa Road under the name Growing Smiles.
With reporting by Brandon Rowe
