RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Consent in dentistry: ethical and deontological issues
JF Journal of Medical Ethics
JO J Med Ethics
FD BMJ Publishing Group Ltd and Institute of Medical Ethics
SP 59
OP 61
DO 10.1136/medethics-2012-100850
VO 39
IS 1
A1 Conti, Adelaide
A1 Delbon, Paola
A1 Laffranchi, Laura
A1 Paganelli, Corrado
YR 2013
UL http://jme.bmj.com/content/39/1/59.abstract
AB In Italy, consent for health treatment, aside from being an ethical and deontological obligation, constitutes an essential requirement for any medical treatment according to articles 13 and 32 of the National Constitution and also in accordance with the Council of Europe's ‘Convention on Human Rights and Biomedicine’. An essential requirement for the validity of consent is that clear, exhaustive and adequate information be provided to the patient himself: the practice of informed consent is a communicative relationship in which the patient can express doubts, perplexities and clarification requests to the dentist. Furthermore, dental treatment has specific peculiarities: the relationship between dentistry and aesthetics, the concomitant presence of pathologies requiring different treatments, the elongated care process and the establishment of a trustworthy relationship and familiarity with the patient represent important aspects in the configuration of the dentist-patient relationship and in the process of acquiring informed consent. The dentist must offer correct information on diagnosis, prognosis, the therapeutic perspective and the likely consequences of therapy, alternative therapy and refusal of therapy, as well as eventual commitments for the period after treatment. Particular consideration must be given to minors and patients of unsound mind: the dentist's approach to these patients needs to be clear and appropriate to the person's age and understanding ability, even if the decisional power for sanitary treatment may be in the hands of a third person.