Dental Practice Shut Down after Potential HIV, Hepatitis Exposure

Three Pennsylvania dentists have been suspended and their practice shut down after health officials said they failed to follow proper sterilization protocol, potentially exposing patients to Hepatitis B, Hepatitis C and HIV.

Related: Illegal Dentist Extracted 10 Teeth Without Anesthesia, Authorities Say

According to a Lehigh Valley Business report, the Pennsylvania Department of Health and the Department of State determined that the Center for Family and Specialty Dentistry, located in Berks County, neglected to “properly clean, disinfect, or sterilize devices.”

As a result, the licenses of Stephen Sulzbach, DDS, Jana Osmolinski, DDS, and Eric Osmolinski, DMD, are under temporary suspension, Lehigh Valley Business reports. The state board will rule at a later date on the status of their licenses.

The department said though no infections have been reported so far, patients who saw the doctors between Dec. 19, 2015 and Oct. 19, 2016, should be tested for the viruses.

This infection scare comes on the heels of another, in which a Wisconsin dentist might have exposed almost 600 veterans with hepatitis b and c, as well as HIV. That dentist has since resigned, pending a board hearing.

The fallout from that lapse rocked the already embattled department of Veterans Affairs, which has drawn the attention of President-elect Donald Trump for recent lapses. Trump promised on the campaign trail to overhaul the troubled agency.