Vaccination of dentists and other oral health care providers

Oral health care workers may be exposed to a variety of infectious agents as they carry out their professional responsibilities. Dentists must recognize diseases that are most commonly transmitted in dental offices. Oral health care providers should assess their needs for immunization based on the characteristics of their clinical work setting and own risk-taking profile. Relevant articles in the medical literature were derived from searching Medline database (1966 to present) with key terms immunization, oral health care and dentist. On searching the database, a total of 70 studies were included in this review. Use of vaccines safeguards the health of workers in various type of oral health care delivery settings.