title: Risk factors for variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease in dental practice: a case-control study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To assess the risk of variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (vCJD) associated with dental treatment.
  
  
  METHODS
  Case-control study, investigation of links between cases.
  
  
  METHODS
  National CJD surveillance, general dental practice and practice boards in Great Britain, 2008-2009.
  
  
  METHODS
  Variant CJD cases were recruited from all those referred between May 1995 and August 2009 (n = 160); controls were recruited from the general population in 2003 using randomly selected geographic clusters and age-weighted sampling of individuals (n = 584). Risk factors were ascertained from dental records, with consent, using a structured questionnaire.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Dental records were available for fewer cases (49%, 78 out of 160) than control subjects (78%, 457 out of 584). Variant CJD cases were no more or less likely than control subjects to have undergone dental treatment (p ≥0.05). Two cases had attended the same dental practice, but the type and timing of treatments did not provide strong evidence that this was linked to the route of transmission.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  There is no evidence of a vCJD risk associated with dental treatment, but because dental information is limited we cannot exclude this possibility. Improved methods for dental record keeping are recommended to aid future investigations of associations between infectious diseases and dental treatment.
authors.affiliation: National CJD Research and Surveillance Unit, University of Edinburgh, Western General Hospital, Edinburgh, EH4 2XU, UK. anna.molesworth@ed.ac.uk
authors.forename: A M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Molesworth
authors.forename: A J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Smith
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Everington
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Ord
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Watt
authors.forename: R G
authors.initials: RG
authors.lastname: Will
authors.forename: H J T
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Ward
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D015331:Cohort Studies; D007562:Creutzfeldt-Jakob Syndrome / Q000635:transmission*; D003428:Cross Infection / Q000635:transmission*; D003729:Dental Care / Q000145:classification; D003792:Dental Records; D005260:Female; D005792:General Practice, Dental; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011159:Population Surveillance; D012307:Risk Factors; D013218:State Dentistry; D006113:United Kingdom; D055815:Young Adult