Challenges and practices arising during public health emergencies: A qualitative survey on ethics committees.

The particular dynamics of public health emergencies urge scientists and Ethics Committee (EC) members to change and adapt their operating procedures to function effectively. Despite having previous pandemic experiences, ethics committees were unprepared to adapt to COVID-19 pandemic challenges. This survey aims to learn and thoroughly discuss the most salient issues for ECs during the COVID-19 pandemic. The results indicate that the main problems faced by ECs were lack of/insufficient regulations, lack of data/experience/knowledge, sloppy review, poor research design, and poor adaptation to quarantine measures. Coping with factors that threaten the autonomy and independence of ECs, the ethical dilemma regarding maximizing common good versus protecting the rights and well-being of study participants, comprehending the change in the context of vulnerable populations, and redefining the role of ECs to strengthen trust in science and vaccine confidence were outstanding issues.

Gingival inflammation in the Flemish painter Hendrick ter Brugghen's Unequal Couple painting.

The evaluation of painting in terms of medicine and dentistry is increasingly shared in academic publications. The clear depiction of gingival inflammation seen in the female figure in Hendrick ter Brugghen's Unequal couple attracted our attention. It is interesting to note the meticulous transfer of the actual condition of the diseased gingival tissues and the painter's very high observational ability. Although there may be many more examples of observational depictions, we believe that 'dental humanities' will develop by discussing such art works.

Towards a specific approach to education in dental ethics: a proposal for organising the topics of biomedical ethics for dental education.

Understanding dental ethics as a field separate from its much better known counterpart, medical ethics, is a relatively new, but necessary approach in bioethics. This need is particularly felt in dental education and establishing a curriculum specifically for dental ethics is a challenging task. Although certain topics such as informed consent and patient rights can be considered to be of equal importance in both fields, a number of ethical issues in dental practice are only remotely-if at all-relevant for medical practice. Therefore, any sound approach to education in dental ethics has to recognise the unique aspects of dental practice in order to meet the needs of dental students and prepare them for the ethical challenges they may face during their professional practice. With this goal in mind, this paper examines the approach of the authors to dental ethics education and proposes a system to organise the topics of biomedical ethics for dental education. While the authors' perspective is based on their experience in Turkey, the proposed system of classification is not a rigid one; it is open to interpretation in other contexts with different social, cultural and professional expectations. Therefore, the paper also aims to inspire discussion on the development of an ideal dental ethics curriculum at an international level.