So am I understanding then that if we go to the dentist and another patient there has CJD unbeknownst to him or her at the time, those instruments (normally auto-claved) would be in our mouths......and could potentially infect us.
Indeed there have been cases of prion disease spread through dental offices just as there have been cases spread through tonsillectomies.
No sense in worrying over it at this point in time, alarming as it is. The incidence of this is still miniscule.
Correct. The long time between exposure and expression of the disease makes it difficult to track. A big outbreak of CJD was observed in an area on the east coast. The only thing the victims had in common was a regular patronage of a race track cafe. The association would have been completely missed absent the driving curiosity of a researcher to find an explanation.