Dental ethics case 3: informed consent: risks and benefits of treatment

Studies have shown that pre-operative patient education, providing coping strategies and/or reasonable expectations regarding the post-operative course can help lessen patient anxiety and decrease pain, complications and recovery time.Department of HE and Training approved lis

Dental ethics case 18: Use of amalgam for dental restorations

A commentary is given to the scenario of patients who request that the removal of perfectly serviceable amalgam restorations and replace them with composite or tooth-coloured materials

How do I comment ethically on the work of colleagues?

Department of HE and Training approved lis

Referrals - practitioner, patient & specialist obligations

The profession of dentistry has both benevolent and protective aspects with regards to duty of care to patients, to always try to do the best for the patients and to fulfill the principle of non-maleficence - to do no harm. This principle expresses the concept that professionals have a duty to protect the patient from harm. Under this principle, the dentist's primary obligations include keeping knowledge and skills current, knowing one's own limitations and when to refer to a specialist or other professional. All dentists, whether generalists or specialists, have both legal and ethical responsibilities to their patients - legally they need to exercise reasonable skill and care and ethically they are obligated to always put the best interests of the patients first (above personal or professional interests) and to carry out treatment to the standard of care set by the profession.DHE

Dental ethics case 25 the drug-abusing patient – what are my ethical obligations to treat?

Department of HE and Training approved lis

The importance of communication between members of the dental team

A patient, accompanied by the daughter with whom she lived, visited a dentist for extraction of her six remaining lower teeth. She had last been to the practice two years earlier, when two teeth were extracted without incident. She had since suffered myocardial infarction and was receiving regular anti-coagulant therapy.Department of HE and Training approved lis

Dental ethics case 17: What are my obligations and ethical responsibilities when treating patients with HIV?

This ethical case is about a 20 year old female patient who had recurrent ulcers in and around her mouth. The dentist suspected that the recurrent ulcers and candidiasis were oral manifestations of HIV and confronted her with his suspicions of her being HIV-positive.Department of HE and Training approved lis

Oral health and nutrition for children under five years of age: a paediatric food-based dietary guideline

Good nutrition is essential for good health and the development and integrity of the oral cavity. Oral health is integral to general health and essential to well-being. Dental caries is the most common oral disease in children under five years of age, and although preventable, still affects many children, particularly those from disadvantaged socio-economic backgrounds. High consumption levels of sugary food and drinks have been implicated as an important dietary cause of obesity, diabetes, coronary heart disease and dental caries. The global obesity epidemic has attracted policy-makers’ attention to the relationship between diets that are rich in added sugars (particularly glucose, sucrose and high-fructose corn syrup) and obesity, diabetes, metabolic syndrome and cardiovascular disease risk factors. The aim of this paper is to review the literature and summarise the evidence that relates to diet and nutrition as a cause of oral diseases, such as dental caries, and early childhood caries. The Common Risk Factor Approach will be described as a way in which health promotion and preventive initiatives that advance oral health and nutrition in children under five years of age can be achieved. Recommendations are provided on public health strategies with regard to nutrition education, food policies, diet counselling and the promotion of adequate fluoride exposure via appropriate vehicles.Department of HE and Training approved lis

Dental ethics case 21: extreme makeovers - the ethics of aesthetic dentistry

Aesthetic sensibilities need to develop within the limits of physiological, morphological and occlusal parameters in restoring function and improving dentofacial and facial aesthetics.Department of HE and Training approved lis

Dental ethics case 24: Non-therapeutic cosmetic treatments including botox

Department of HE and Training approved lis