TY - JOUR
T1 - Patient autonomy as a necessary but limited ethical principle in shaping the dentist-patient relationship
AU - Welie, Jos V.M.
N1 - Funding Information:
This article is based on an invited lecture presented at the bi-annual congress of the International Dental Ethics and Law Society in Amsterdam on August 24, 2018. The author wishes to express his gratitude to the congress organizers, the FDI World Dental Federation, and to Creighton University, for covering the travel expenses related to the author?s attendance of this event. As far as the author is aware, their support has not in any way influenced the contents of the author?s presentation or of this article.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2019, International Organisation for Forensic Odonto-Stomatology. All rights reserved.
PY - 2019/12
Y1 - 2019/12
N2 - Today, the ethical and legal organization of the therapeutic relationship is determined in large extent by the principle of respect for patient autonomy or self-determination. From it, the patient derives important legally enforceable rights, most notably the right to consent to (or refuse) any proposed dental treatment. And yet, historically and indeed by its very nature, this principle is actually foreign to the health care context. Patients do not seek to defend themselves against their dentists in the same way that citizens need protection against a potentially tyrannical government. We will argue that the principle of patient autonomy sets important legal boundaries to the therapeutic relationship. But it does little to cement the relationship itself. Rather, it is the ethical principles of beneficence and non-maleficence that structure the dentist-patient relationship.
AB - Today, the ethical and legal organization of the therapeutic relationship is determined in large extent by the principle of respect for patient autonomy or self-determination. From it, the patient derives important legally enforceable rights, most notably the right to consent to (or refuse) any proposed dental treatment. And yet, historically and indeed by its very nature, this principle is actually foreign to the health care context. Patients do not seek to defend themselves against their dentists in the same way that citizens need protection against a potentially tyrannical government. We will argue that the principle of patient autonomy sets important legal boundaries to the therapeutic relationship. But it does little to cement the relationship itself. Rather, it is the ethical principles of beneficence and non-maleficence that structure the dentist-patient relationship.
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M3 - Article
C2 - 31894136
AN - SCOPUS:85077379137
VL - 37
SP - 34
EP - 41
JO - Journal of Forensic Odonto-Stomatology
JF - Journal of Forensic Odonto-Stomatology
SN - 0258-414X
IS - 3
ER -