The reason why I'm ambivalent and posting here is because I'm not quite
sure if what I had was really what they call a needlestick injury. In a
literal sense, my finger wasn't 'stuck' by a needle. The tip of the
needle made contact, but the needle didn't go into my finger as with an
injection. Maybe I would have had the same exposure if I slightly
tapped my finger onto the needle point to feel how sharp it really is.
But then again, it felt really sharp.

I forgot to mention that I went to a physician to get tested. Physician
#1 took my baseline readings ( which were within normal limits ) and
told me to come for a follow-up reading 6 wks later.

Come 6 wks later, I met physician #2. ( this was a university-setting;
no assigned doctors ) She made me reiterate to her my situation and she
told me that I did not have an exposure because there weren't any
visible blood. She refused to go on with further blood tests, saying
they were a waste of time.

But she never gave me a clear answer of whether I could have gotten an
microscopic exposure that could have been infectious. I mean, the
needle still have could have penetrated through my gloves and skin
without visible punctures and blood.

I don't know what I should do.

Of course you could have been exposed. You got stuck, right?
Get tested so you can stop worrying about it.

Worrying is bad, ok? Sometimes, worse than the disease...

Cheers

/greyhackles

Hello, everyone. This happened about an year ago, and maybe it was
foolhardy of me to keep it to myself. ( or maybe I'm a little paranoid
for thinking about it )

At around the same time last year, I was giving a patient a lidocaine
injection within the buccal mucosal fold of his upper left third molar.
( in other words, the 'pink' movable soft tissue around the roots of
his upper left wisdom tooth )

After the injection, I withdrew the needle to re-cap it but it headed
for my left index finger instead. I pulled away my left hand right away
as I felt a really sharp pinch. I was wearing latex gloves at the time.
I didn't see any visible puncture marks on the finger and there was no
visible blood to be seen on both my finger and needle. I pressed hard
onto the area of injury and I wasn't able to elicit any bleeding.

The patient was a ~35 yr old male living in a rehab center for former
prison inmates, drug addicts, and HIV-positive patients. He happened to
be a native of south Bronx, NYC, a low socio-economic area. He claimed
to be free of bloodborne diseases but admits to having smoked marijuana
in the past. At the time of his dental treatment, he was maritally
single but had 2 children and multiple sex partners in his lifetime. He
has a criminal history but was trying to get his life back in order.
His medical history is positive only for solar urticaria and asthma. (
I don't know if I'm able to trust him completely on his medical history
)

Anyways, am I being too paranoid for thinking I could have contracted
HIV, hep b, or hep c from this patient? ( assuming he was positive for
all three ) Even though
I didn't see blood, I could have been microscopically exposed, right?
Could I have contracted anything?

Thanks.