Dentist may have exposed thousands to HIV, hepatitis

Health authorities are scrambling to find thousands of patients who may have been exposed to serious bloodborne diseases by a dodgy dentist.

Patients of former dentist William Tam, who practised at Strathfield in Sydney's inner west for more than 25 years, are being urged to test for hepatitis B and C and HIV.

Concerns for Dr Tam's patients were raised after the Dental Council of NSW conducted an audit of his premises which identified concerns about infection control and patient record keeping, NSW Health said in a statement on Wednesday.

While the risk of contracting the serious viruses is low, NSW Health warned all Dr Tam's patients might be exposed and should see their GP.

Sydney Local Health District public health clinical director Leena Gupta said thousands of people were seen by Tam in the past 25 years but there are no records of them.

"As a precaution, we are asking all of Dr Tam's previous patients to seek testing for bloodborne viruses," she said.

"The poor infection control practices at Dr Tam's practice means all former patients may be at low risk of a blood borne virus infection, which can have serious and long-lasting health impacts."

People who may have contracted any of these viruses may not show any symptoms for decades so the need for testing is still high, Dr Gupta said.

Dr Tam has since retired and is no longer a registered dentist.

The alert comes one year after clients of a beauty clinic in inner Sydney were warned about their possible exposure to the same viruses due to misuse of equipment.

Inspectors for the NSW Health Care Complaints Commission found in March 2025 that workers might have been pretending to be doctors and injecting people with botox, hyaluronic acid and dermal fillers.

A large amount of surgical equipment was seized that was "clearly marked as being for veterinary use only", as well as large amounts of controlled medication were found, the commission said.