Dentist ethics

Dentist's Ethics

Introduction to Ethics in Dentistry
The word ethics comes from the Greek ethos originally meaning character or conduct. It is typically used interchangeably with the word moral which is derived from the Latin word mores, which means customs or habits. Together these two terms refer to conduct, character, and motivations involved in moral acts. Thus, ethics are not imposed by a profession or by law, but by moral obligation.

(ADA) serves as a standard to which all dental professionals are expected to adhere. It states that each member of the dental profession is responsible for “maintaining and enriching” the dental profession.

The dentist must take reasonable measures to ensure that each person, employee, or partner involved with him in the practice of his profession complies with the Dental Act.
Dentist duties and obligations:
§1. General provisions

Before accepting the job, a dentist must bear in mind the extent of his proficiency, knowledge and not accept a case if not sufficiently prepared for it.

A dentist must provide a service or give prescriptions only when these are necessary from a dental point of view.

A dentist shall observe the generally accepted rules of hygiene and asepsis.

A dentist shall endeavor to establish a relationship of mutual trust between the patient and himself particularly by acting in an amiable and correct manner, and not interfere in the personal affairs of his patient.


A dentist shall examine the patient and establish a treatment plan before the actual treatment.

He shall see the patient again following the dental intervention in order to verify the carrying out of the treatment plan, and shall ensure, where required, that the necessary alterations or adjustments are made.

The dentist must adequately supervise his employees.

The decisions were left in the hands of the dentist, but it is essential that the patient have the final decision in his treatment. This achieved by sharing the information.

A dentist must not cause unnecessary harm to a patient, however the decision regarding the level of pain that is acceptable to the patient must be determined by the patient himself.

Dentists have the responsibility to be fair in their dealings with patients, colleagues, and society. Practicing justice includes serving patients without discrimination against race, creed, color, sex or national origin.

§2. Integrity

A dentist shall discharge his professional duties with integrity. If the good of the patient so requires, he must, with the latter's authorization, consult a colleague, a member of another professional order or another competent person, or refer him to one of these persons.

Before undertaking any treatment, a dentist must inform his patient of his conditions and the treatment's cost that involved.

A dentist must inform his patient as soon as possible of any complication or other difficulty occurring during the treatment necessitated by his condition as well as the possible financial implications thereof.

§3. Availability and diligence

A dentist must be objective and honest when a person likely to become a patient asks him for information.

§4. Liability

A dentist must, in the practice of his profession, fully commit his personal civil liability.

§5. Independence and impartiality

The dentist must ignore any intervention, which could influence the performance of his professional duties to the detriment of his patient. As soon as he ascertains that he is in a situation of conflict of interest, a dentist must either cease treatment or notify his patient thereof and ask for his authorization to continue the treatment.

§6. Professional secrecy

Every dentist and his employs must preserve the secrecy of all confidential information that becomes known to the dentist in the practice of the profession, unless if ordered by law.

In addition a dentist may communicate information that is protected by professional secrecy in order to prevent an act of violence, including a suicide, or death and serious bodily injury to a person or an identifiable persons.

§7. Accessibility and correction of records and release of documents

A dentist shall indicate in the patient's file, where applicable, the reasons that support the patient's request.

Upon a patient's written request, a dentist shall forward free of charge a copy of that information or, as the case may be, of that attestation to any person from whom the dentist received the information and to any person to whom the information was provided.


§8. Determination and payment of fees

A dentist shall establish and charge fair and reasonable fees, by following these factors:

(a) the time given to the carrying out of the professional service;
(b) the complexity and extent of the service;
(c) the performance of unusual services or services requiring exceptional competence or speed;
(d) the amount of any disbursements and expenses incurred by him.

The dentist shall notify his patient of the approximate cost of his services before beginning the treatment and shall refrain from demanding full advance payment for his services.

If projected treatment on which agreement has been reached must be changed, the dentist shall inform the patient without delay of the additional fees that this change will entail.

§9. Conditions, obligations and prohibitions respecting advertising

A dentist's advertising shall contain only information that will help the public to make an enlightened choice and that will facilitate the public's access to useful or necessary dental services (who have not particular knowledge of dentistry).

A dentist who is not recognized as a specialist by the Order may not advertise any service whatsoever, unless the words “General Dentist” and the abbreviations for those of his university degrees that have been recognized by the Order are clearly stated after his name, so a dentist who has been issued a restricted permit may advertise only the services that he is able to provide.

A dentist may not advertise himself under titles other than those recognized by the Order, that is, “dentist” or “dental surgeon” and, if he holds a specialist's certificate, his specialist's titles. In addition, he may have his name followed only by university titles or other titles that are recognized by the Order.


§10. Graphic symbol of the Order and dentistry

Where a dentist uses the graphic symbol of dentistry (logo), he shall ensure that the symbol conforms to the copy held by the secretary of the Order.

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To achieve proper ethical conduct in a dental setting, dentists must first begin by treating each patient as an individual and take true interest in the patient’s dental needs and wants, which is called " Positive Dentist-Patient Relationship" .

Dentist – Patient Relationship

The advent of communication and information technologies has greatly affected the way in which health care is delivered and the positive relationship between dentists and their patients, also it helps in minimizing the pain; it's very important to interest with dentist's behavior, that should be friendliness, being calm, giving moral support, and working quickly.
Dentists routinely can use some basic techniques to achieve such goals, you can use mirrors for showing them their mouths, or the models or radiographs (conventional & digital) to explain with simple language the dental problems that the patient suffer from.
A patient’s age, race/ethnicity, education, as well as the psychological classification* ; can affected the method of communication.
Briefly..
Tell patients in an open conversation, the problems precisely and in simple terms.
Inform them of how these problems were occurred.
Inform them of the treatment recommendations, and the consequences if treatment is delayed or ignored.
Note the following "Ten skills" to ensure the dentist-patient communication:

By these steps we can get the patients to take action in the treatment and care of their oral health, and improved the case acceptance and our job satisfaction.

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*House's classification (Psychological)
Class 1= Philosophical patients: that accepts dentist's judgment and instructions, best prognosis.
Class 2= Exacting patients: which are methodical and demanding, asks a lot of questions, good prognosis.
Class 3= Hysterical: that are emotionally unfit, never happy, worst prognosis.
Class 4= Indifferent: patients are doesn't care about dental treatment and gives up easily.