Repost with Forewords: Cold Sore Is Herpes – Cancel Your Dental Appointment Because Your Dentist Won’t!

Dental Revelations Blog

I am reposting one of my blog posts in the light of the news of the 10-year-old Briony who died from herpex simplex virus which the doctors failed to diagnose.

In this blog post I wrote about a dental nurse who contracted the herpes simplex virus whilst the dentist was treating a patient with a cold sore. I wrote that the GP diagnosed a primary herpes (meaning she had never had herpes infection which most people do have as a child). What I did not share with you was the fact that the dental nurse attended the GP’s practice on Friday and the GP sent her home thinking she had gingivitis. The nurse tried to tell the GP that she had seen a periodontist in her practice due to the ulceration in her mouth and it definitely wasn’t gingivitis. Nevertheless the GP advised the use of chlorhexidine mouthwash and sent her home.

Over the weekend she developed high fever (40 degrees) and could not eat anything due to sore mouth. At this point the ulceration was covering every corner of her mouth including the lips. She returned the GP’s practice on Monday morning and was barely able to stand up. Still the GP insisted it was gingivitis. But at that point the nurse realised the GP needed to see more than what he could with her just opening the mouth and him poking with this wooden spatula. So she grinned as wide as she could. The GP jumped back and said “Well that is definitely a herpes infection!” and prescribed the antiviral medication.

So it is not so uncommon that the herpes infection goes undetected by the professionals. This is one more reason to take the virus seriously – even though the deadly side of the virus should be enough of a reason, eh? Please read my post Cold Sore Is Herpes – Cancel Your Dental Appointment Because Your Dentist Won’t!

In case you haven’t read the news about Briony, click here.

My heart goes out to Briony’s family who must be devastated. RIP little Briony.


A patient came in for a long appointment to have a bridge done. This appointment was to include filing down the teeth to abutments which meant that the high-speed drill was to be used. A lot. High …

Source: Cold Sore Is Herpes – Cancel Your Dental Appointment Because Your Dentist Won’t!

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