Dental Ethics

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Dental Ethics
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Dental Ethics

• Ethics deals with MORAL CONTACT, duty, and
  judgment.
• Its concerned with standards for determining
  wither actions are right or wrong.
• These are voluntary controls, not laws, and serve
  as a method of self-polishing within a profession

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American Dental Assistants Association Principals
of Ethics

• This code of ethics functions as a standard of
  ethics for all practicing dental assistants

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Principles of Ethics

• Each individual involved in the practice of
  dentistry assumes the obligation to maintain and
  enrich the profession
• Each member may choose to meet this obligation
  according to the dictate of personal conscience
  based on the needs of the human beings the
  profession of dentistry is committed to serve.
  The spirit of the Golden Rule is the basic
  guiding principle of this concept.
• The member must strive to maintain
  confidentiality and to exhibit respect for the
  dentist

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Principles of Ethics

• The member shall refrain from performing any
  professional service that is prohibited by state
  law and has obligation to prove competence prior
  to providing services to any patient
• The member shall constantly strive to upgrade
  and expand technical skills for the benefit of
  the employer and the consumer public
• The member should additionally seek to sustain
  and improve the local organization, state
  association, and the American Dental Assistants
  Association by active participation and personal
  commitment

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The Assistant as a representative of the Dental
Profession

• Each DA, in both his or her professional
  personal life, acts at all times as a
  representative of the dental team
• Shes NOT qualified to make a diagnosis, to
  establish a fee for a dental service, or to
  comment on the quality of dental treatment that
  has been performed

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The Dental Team

• Although the individual members of the dental
  health team have specific duties and areas of
  responsibility, they are ALL working together
  toward the shared goal of providing the best
  possible care for their patients

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The Dental Team

• The composition of the dental health team within
  an individual office or clinic may vary, yet
  theres no question that the dentist is the
  leader of the team

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The Dental Team

• The dentist is in charge and must retain ultimate
  responsibility for the well-being of the patients
  and the actions of the employer

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The Dental Team

• All members of the team must give their complete
  support and loyalty to the dentist whos the
  leader of their team

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The Dental Team

• The success of the dental team, like that of any
  other team, is dependant upon the attitudes and
  cooperation of all team members

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The Dental Team

• They must be able to work together in close
  harmony and be willing to help each other at all
  times

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The Dental Team

• Team members must have the flexibility of
  personality necessary for close cooperation and
  mutual support

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The Dental Team

• Anyone whos unable to work and cooperate with
  the others may be on the wrong team