Are magazines at the dentist a health risk?

[Northerner]

Magazines in the waiting room can provide a welcome distraction before having to face the dentist.
But they could do more harm than good by spreading germs, claim infection experts.
They insist that magazines should be thrown out or recycled after just a week and not left out to be leafed through by patient after patient.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...sk-Publications-spread-germs-thrown-week.html

 

[Andy HB]

I always take my rubber gloves when visiting the dentist as well as laying pieces of tissue paper everywhere that I walk.

I find that my whole body germ suit is also a boon!

As for the dentist actually touching me .... urrrrrghhh! NO WAY!!

Andy 🙄

 

[StephenM]

In some ways it does seem strange. Many GP practices are now putting in automatic doors so people can avoid touching potentially germ ridden handles and then let them wait reading old magazines. At least my GP practice has recently updated its magazine policy throwing out the older stuff and getting donations of some car/photography/gardening/etc. magazines. Previously it was very much women?s magazines and rubbish like ?Hello?!

 

[Copepod]

Exactly - choice of magazines is my main problem. And it's not so much old magazines, as ones that have been recently sneezed on / touched by unwashed hands, as after a few hours most viruses or bacteria left on paper will have died.

Our dentist's waiting room has magazines supplied by a company (stickers on covers) in a a good range of interesting topics eg triathlons, sailing, house & gardens (although I only read the sports ones). Our GP surgery has only health related and women's magazines in each of the 2 waiting rooms, so whenever I attend, I take a paperback to read myself, plus a couple of recent Saturday newspaper magazines or free science journals that I get from various sources to leave there.

 

[Northerner]

I take my kindle these days 🙂