Prions in Dentistry — What Are They, Should We Be Concerned, and What Can We Do?

© J Can Dent Assoc 2006; 72(1):53–60 This article has been peer reviewed. Objective: To briefly review the characteristics of prions, the risk of transmission and implications for infection control in dentistry. Methods: The literature on prion disease in the context of dentistry up to March 2005 was reviewed using the PubMed, MEDLINE, Cumulative Index to Nursing & Allied Health Literature, Google Scholar databases and the Web sites of the departments of health of countries affected by the disease. Results: The sporadic form of Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease (CJD) is the most common human prion disease; the mean age of those affected to date is 68 years, the mortality rate is 85 % within 1 year, and the average death rate is 1 per million persons. Variant CJD (vCJD) affects people (mean age 26 years) with a history of previous extended periods of residence in certain countries, mainly in the United Kingdom. Currently, there is no evidence of human-to-human transmission of CJD or vCJD following casual or intimat