Would this worry you? was I exposed?

[emet-ana]

Hi,

I went to the orthodontic/maxillo-facial unit at a hospital that had norovirus last month (two wards were closed to visitors). I had my braces tightened and bands attached and wore my own glasses so I didn't have to wear the usual dental-glasses/eye-guards.

When I was lying there having my braces changed the orthodontist (who had bad B.O.!) asked the dental nurse whether she was allowed back to the other practice/dental office yet and she said 'No I'm not allowed back', he replied 'Are people not allowed back?' and she said 'I know I'm not'. The nurse knows I have norovirus fear and emetophobia/OCD as I've mentioned it lots of times and she replied in a way that suggested she wanted him to stop talking about whatever they were talking about!

Would you construe their conversation as being about a sv? In my head it means that she is not allowed back to a private dental/orthodontic clinic yet because she's still contagious or has family who are- but that sounds a bit daft/silly doesn't it?

I took a lot of grapeseed extract and 30% Welch's as I couldn't find 100% in any of the supermarkets/shops (went to 5!) but I'm still worried about my appointment.

Also I was handed a mirror at the end of the appointment (to look at the bands)- I get worried about catching sv from anything that other people have touched- especially as the hospital (NHS) is in quite a rough area.

Would you be worried?

[AoD]

There's no reason to worry! I know it's easy to patch pieces of random information together and assume it's about sv, but that's just a trick of the mind. It could have been a number of other reasons. Thing is, if she knows about your fear she probably wanted him to change the subject because she knew it would upset you to hear about it and figured it was best to avoid that topic, not because she was contagious herself! If she has norovirus she would have been excluded from this ward as well. Thing is, hospitals close wards much more often and for less than private clinics because it can spread more easily there, so if she was allowed in the hospitals but not at the private clinic my guess is that the private clinic is closed for other reasons and they didn't need her there (maybe the dentist she helps is out sick so there's no job for her). Also, you won't get it from the mirror. All you have to do is wash your hands when you get home and you're safe from whatever you touched but I'm sure it wasn't contaminated in the first place.

[emet-ana]

Thanks so much AoD. I got really worried about the whole thing even though there was no definite exposure!

I think I'm concerned that because they're under-staffed and it's only an orthodontic unit rather than a medical ward, the dental nurses might be allowed to return just a day or two after being ill or while their families are ill!

You're right about the mirror- I sanitized and washed my hands so I hope I'll be okay. I also avoided shaking the (new) orthodontist's hand because of emet/ocd!

I hope your day is going ok!

[Grace47]

I'm sure your orthodontist wore gloves and a face mask. Since he was the one with his hands in your mouth, he's the one you have to worry about. However, with normal precautions, I'm sure he's not sharing anything with anyone. Plus, it sounds like he didn't have it anyway. There's no way to tell why the dental clinic they were referring to is closed. It could be for remodeling or carpet shampooing. It probably has nothing to do with noro since I am sure the last thing most people with noro want is someone poking around in their mouth. I'm sure you'll be fine.

[AoD]

I see it the opposite way, that they wouldn't force people to come in because it's orthodontic and not a real hospital ward so they offer a non-essential service and they can just cancel appointments if the staff is sick without any bad effects on clients.. something they can't do in regular hospital wards.

[emet-ana]

Thanks AoD, that's a good way to look at it