Ethical Questions In Dentistry

Updated to reflect the current ethical climate, this book presents clinical practice cases in which arguments can be made for differing courses of action or in which the obligations of the professional are in conflict; the reader is asked to determine the ethically correct response to such conflicts. In this revised edition, detailed background material has been added to many of the cases to foster more well-reasoned ethical decision making. In addition, cases on sexual harassment and advertising have been introduced, and those on financial and HIV issues have been updated. An entirely new chapter on the structure and obligations of the various professions has been added. This book will continue to be of value to members of the dental profession and is now better suited to the needs of ethics courses for dental students.

Introduces the field of dental ethics, providing a framework for approaching ethical problems in the clinical setting; features ethical analyses of topical issues such as dentist-patient relationship, informed consent, and AIDS; and includes two extensive case commentaries.

Ethical principles are essential in the practice of dentistry, and Ethical Decisions in Dentistry takes the reader from ethics in dental education to creating ethical protocols and public policy. This concise volume covers ethics issues in the education of dentists, in licensure and licensing examinations, in solo and group private practice, and in esthetic dentistry. It also supplies a chapter presenting the patient's perspective on medical ethics, one on informed consent, and another on the process of developing the guidelines for ethical dental decision-making. The topics of billing, office management, and advertising are covered, and the book closes with a chapter entitled "Ethics in Transition," which charts transitions in a dentists' practice and career as well as transitions in how ethical principles themselves are viewed. Ethical Decisions in Dentistry is a valuable text for teaching ethics in dental schools, but also serves as a refresher course for practicing dentists at any stage of their professional lives.

Every health care practitioner from Hippocrates to our own day has had to deal with questions of ethics in the effort to serve patients properly and well. The dental professional is no different. For nearly a decade, it has had sound ethical reflection on its side in the form of Dental Ethics at Chairside. In issues ranging from ordinary chairside decision making to HIV/AIDS and ethical business practices, the first edition of this book has guided thousands of dentists, dental hygienists, students, and other oral health care practitioners to an understanding of the essential practice of ethics. Now a revised, updated, and expanded edition of Dental Ethics at Chairside responds to the challenges of oral health care in the new century with chapters on managed care, confidentiality and electronic record-keeping, among other important topics.

In the last two decades, more than ever before dentists must determine how to properly maintain their focus on ethics and professionalism in the face of powerful commercial pressures. While there is encouragement for ethical conduct within the dental profession, there is still relatively little assistance available to dentists and dental students for judging what conduct is ethically best in concrete situations. For many years, Dental Ethics at Chairside has served as an invaluable resource for tens of thousands of dentists and dentistry students, and this third edition of the gold standard in the field is thoroughly revised and updated. In addition to exploring ongoing and critical issues such as the patient-professional relationship, patients with compromised capacity, confidentiality, justice and the inadequacies of society's health care systems, and dentistry as a business, the third edition addresses emerging ethical issues related to conflicts of interest, dental professionalism, advertising and social media, the serious indebtedness of graduating dental students, bad outcomes and bad work, the explosion of aesthetic dentistry, acquiring new skills and new technology, the impact of the market on the professional-patient relationship, and many others. The book includes fourteen realistic cases and commentary about dilemmas in dentistry, as well as online resources for further research and study.

Case presentations, esthetics, insurance considerations, communicable diseases, referral questions, dental phobia, and legal concerns all play a role in doctor-patient relationships. These topics, and many others, are the subject of this one-of-a-kind resource, designed to show dental students and practitioners how to approach patient relationships.

With the recent upswing in professional ethical misconduct, a comprehensive reeducation in ethical concepts is imperative. This text represents my understanding of the ethical principles from early Greek society to today's society. It clearly outlines the logical historical beginnings of ethical thought, gives students a greater appreciation for the validity of established ethical concepts, provides for a greater understanding of the various aspects of professional ethics and legal issues, and presents workable mechanisms for the prevention, management, and resolution of ethical and/or legal situations in the realm of dentistry. While other texts on this subject appear to be written to appeal primarily to one audience (i.e. dentists or dental hygienists); this text will be valuable asset to dental students, dental hygiene students, practicing dentists, and practicing dental hygienists. By utilizing a simple, 'to the point' approach to dental ethics and legal issues; I feel that anyone who reads my textbook will benefit from my apporach to the subject matter. The specific questions that this book will address are listed as follows: What is ethics? Where and how did ethics begin? How are ethics, religion, and the law related as guides for our actions? Are the concepts of Aristotle, Aquinas, and others valid for modern-day professional applications? How do ethical principles relate to the dental profession? What are some of the consequences for violations of ethical principles? What happens when ethical violations become legal problems, and what types of civil and/or criminal issues may practitioners face in today's society? How can practitioners minimize, manage and resolve the various ethical and/or legal situations they may encounter in modern dentistry and dental hygiene?

"Understanding your ethical and legal obligations is part of being a dental hygienist. Knowledge of the relevant issues will prepare you to function legally and ethically on the job. Ethics and Law in Dental Hygiene is the first book to specifically focus on these issues as they apply to dental hygiene. It covers all of the legal and ethical knowledge required in dental hygiene practice today."--Page 4 of cover