An Orillia dentist office is being investigated by the Royal College of Dental Surgeons of Ontario (RCDSO) after a probe by local health officials determined “deficient cleaning and sterilization” practices may have put patients at risk of contracting hepatitis and HIV.
“The College takes all issues involving patient safety very seriously,” Kevin Marsh, the RSDSO’s director of communications, told OrilliaMatters. “We continue to work closely with our colleagues at Public Health Ontario and the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care on Infection Prevention and Control (IPAC). We were closely involved with the development of the recently released IPAC checklists by Public Health Ontario.”
While Marsh said the agency “cannot comment on an ongoing investigation,” he said Under Section 75 of the Regulated Health Professions Act, “the Registrar of the College may appoint an investigator if the Registrar believes on reasonable and probable grounds that the conduct of the member exposes or is likely to expose his or her patients to harm or injury, and that the investigator should be appointed immediately. In this case, the Registrar has appointed an investigator.”
In December, a citizen contacted the Simcoe Muskoka District Heath Unit over concerns about practices at the dental clinic at 18 Wyandotte St. that operates under the business name, Joe Philip and Associates.
“In late December, we received some information from a member of the public that caused us some concern about cleaning and sterilization practices at that clinic,” said Dr. Colin Lee, the associate medical officer of health. “As a result, we did an inspection of that clinic which uncovered deficiencies.”
Lee was unable to disclose if the complaint came from a patient and would not say if health unit officials alerted the dentist office’s staff in advance of their inspection. He was also unable to disclose the exact nature of the deficiencies.
“We go through a complex checklist of about 40 things,” Lee explained of the inspection. He said examples of issues could be proper use of licensed products aimed at killing bacteria and infection, storage of sterilized equipment and methods used to ensure proper sterilization.
Lee said any patient who obtained care at the clinic between Jan. 1, 2012 and Dec. 18, 2017, should contact their primary health-care provider “to discuss possible testing for hepatitis B, hepatitis C, and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV).
Lee stressed the risks for patients are low. “We understand this situation can be quite upsetting for patients and we feel for those patients,” he told OrilliaMatters. “Given our investigation, after consultation with provincial experts, we have determined there was risk – albeit a very low risk … so, therefore, we are recommending patients see their health-care provider.”
This is the first time such an incident has occurred in Orillia. “It is rare, but over the last 12 months, there have been a couple of similar incidences in Ontario,” Lee said. “It can happen and we want to ensure it doesn’t happen again.”
To help prevent similar incidences in the future, the health unit is sending information packages to all area health-care providers reminding them of proper infection prevention and control measures.
“This is an extremely important issue that we all need to pay attention to – especially health-care providers,” said Lee, who noted the health unit does not “have a legal mandate to proactively investigate. Our legal mandate is to respond to complaints or evidence that there might be an issue.”
The health unit has added staff to help answer questions about this issue and has posted lots of information on its website about the investigation, what it means to patients, answers to commonly-asked questions and a form that can be used by patients for their visit to a doctor.
For patients, “the main concern is for hepatitis B, hepatitis C and HIV,” stated the website. “These diseases can be transmitted from blood or other bodily fluids that are infected with those three viruses. The viruses can stay on medical equipment and instruments if they were not cleaned and/or sterilized properly, and can then be potentially transmitted when those instruments are used on other patients.”
According to the information posted on the website, “improperly cleaned and sterilized dental instruments can spread infectious diseases … from one patient to another. This is why we recommend that, as a precaution, you see your health care provider to discuss possible testing for these three diseases. To date, we have received no reports of any patients becoming infected as a result of this (infection prevention and control) lapse.”
Lee said it was determined to send out a media release rather than have the dental office send letters to its patients because of the potential high number of patients impacted. “Because of the circumstances – the number of years and the number of patients – we felt, in this instance, doing a media release was the best way to inform the public.”
For more information, visit the health unit’s website, simcoemuskokahealth.org or call 705-721-7520.
A call to Joe Philip and Associates was not immediately returned. According to their website, “since 2000, Joe Philip and Associates has been a trusted practice providing personalized, gentle care to residents of Orillia and surrounding areas.”
