iDentistry The Journal identistry_jan_april2019 | Page 22

The Journal
The number of dental clinics is more in urban
areas and very less in rural areas. There is an
obvious tendency for the dentists to settle in
metropolitan cities. As per a survey report in
2004, 3/4th of the total number of dentists are
clustered in urban areas, which houses only
1/4th of Indian population and vice versa 1/4th
of dentists are housed in rural areas which
contains 3/4th of Indian population. Crowding of
dentists in metropolitan cities leads to
unhealthy competition and commercialization.
The latter leads to violating the code of conduct
put forth by the state dental councils and many
of the norms are openly flouted and rules
randomly bent. The Dental Council of India and
its various state counterparts are making every
valiant effort to ensure a high moral standard in
the medical profession. Hence, the imminent
need for a Revised Code of Dental Ethics for all
the practicing dentists in India.
the other, thus placing the dental practitioners in
a challenging situation in patient care ever than
before. So, dentists are expected to be
knowledgeable and be able to analyze and
attempt to resolve any ethical issues arising in
patient care and in day to day practice
scenarios. A very limited formal training in
health-care ethics for dentists and an over
reliance on a few settled experienced ‘seniors’,
sometimes costs them big time. The constantly
juggling struggle between right and wrong for a
dentist has a significant impact on his attitude
resulting in poor or below average patient care
and an effect on society, at large. As per a
qualitative study conducted in India in dental
professionals to assess the ethical challenges
prevailing in dental practice in Indian scenario,
the top ten challenges faced by the Indian
dentists were listed as under:
1.Inadequate sterilization and waste
management in dental clinics.
Review
Medical and Dental professions have to
undoubtedly without any bias provide quality
and standard services to patients (albeit at the
cost of the same). We are governed by the set of
rules and ethical principles to achieve these
goals. Since 1960’s, dentistry has reached
great heights in improving diagnosis and
treatment of oral health. Advancement in
technology has changed the way of our
practices granting more power in our hands.
With power, comes the greed. So, the focus on
ethical aspects of dentistry is increasing day by
day and we as dental practitioners are facing
ethical dilemmas on daily basis. In the last
decade and a half from 2000 – 2015, we have
witnessed significant rise in the number of
dentists, dental practices on one hand but the
equal rise in dental negligence cases on the
other hand. Patients have been more
demanding for quality care and the
advancement of dental technology in terms of
diagnosis and treatment has opened up newer
vistas in treatment planning one side but a
regime of ethical ambiguity and uncertainty on
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2. Poor knowledge and attitude toward ethics
among our dental practitioners: considering
ethics and giving importance only to the
technical aspect.
3. Competence among dental professionals.
4. The increase in cost of oral health service.
5. Poorly informed consent process.
6.Requirement of consensus about the
treatment procedures among dentists.
7.Conflict in advertising.
8.Clustering of dental clinics in urban areas.
9.Disagreement with treatment modalities
among dentist and patient.
10. Poor medical record maintenance among
our dental practitioners.
Vol. 15
No. 1
Jan-April 2019