ABSTRACT
Technological innovations in the fields of medical imaging and communication have enabled the rise of dental telemedecine. By transforming the usual caring relationship, dental telemedicine virtualizes the medical procedure and generates a mutation of the classical relational model that rearticulates the relationship between the dentist and the patient. It introduces a positive lever that must stay up to the appraisal of the benefit-risk equation, that an ethical questioning will help to evaluate for every patient. Dental telemedicine must be understood as a mean, and not as an end. It must not be fantasized as a universal dental care model. It seems to be recommanded to investigate systematically the technological innovations and the development of protocols thanks to ethical guidelines in order to evaluate a priori and a posteriori any kind of progress that might be considered.
Subject(s)
Delivery of Health Care , Ethics, Medical , Physician-Patient Relations/ethics , Telemedicine , Communication , Delivery of Health Care/ethics , Delivery of Health Care/methods , Delivery of Health Care/trends , Humans , Inventions , Oral Health/ethics , Oral Health/standards , Practice Patterns, Dentists'/ethics , Technology, Dental/ethics , Technology, Dental/trends , Telemedicine/ethicsABSTRACT
Health-care costs are rising at an alarmingly fast rate worldwide, particularly in developed countries such as the United States. This is predominantly a result of the development of new, high-cost health technologies intended for improved diagnosis and treatment. The purpose of health technology assessment is to systematically determine the true benefits of new technologies, taking into account clinical efficacy/effectiveness and cost as well as societal preference and ethical issues. In this report, the purpose of health technology assessment is explained in light of new developments in oral health technology, particularly intraoral implants. This information is intended to educate and to challenge oral health opinion leaders to consider all of the issues involved in the development and diffusion of new oral health technologies.
Subject(s)
Technology Assessment, Biomedical , Technology, Dental , Attitude to Health , Cost-Benefit Analysis , Dental Implants/economics , Dental Implants/ethics , Dental Implants/standards , Ethics, Dental , Health Care Costs , Humans , Oral Health , Outcome Assessment, Health Care , Technology Assessment, Biomedical/economics , Technology Assessment, Biomedical/ethics , Technology Assessment, Biomedical/standards , Technology, Dental/economics , Technology, Dental/ethics , Technology, Dental/standards , Technology, High-Cost , United StatesSubject(s)
Diagnosis, Oral/ethics , Diagnosis, Oral/instrumentation , Ethics, Dental , Mouth Neoplasms/diagnosis , Technology, Dental/ethics , Female , Fluorescence , Humans , Light , Mass Screening/ethics , Middle Aged , Mouth Neoplasms/surgery , Papilloma/diagnosis , Papilloma/surgery , Precancerous Conditions/diagnosis , Precancerous Conditions/surgerySubject(s)
Cone-Beam Computed Tomography/ethics , Ethics, Dental , Radiography, Dental, Digital/ethics , Technology, Dental/ethics , Conflict, Psychological , Decision Making/ethics , Dental Care/ethics , Dentist-Patient Relations/ethics , Dentists/ethics , Humans , Informed Consent/ethics , Moral Obligations , Patient Participation , Practice Patterns, Dentists'/ethics , Risk Assessment/ethics , Trust , Truth Disclosure/ethics , VirtuesABSTRACT
With the rapid evolution of technology and the development and marketing of new procedures in dentistry, dentists have difficulty keeping pace with all of this new technology and information. How do these clinicians know whether a new product, technique or technological advance is good and should be recommended? At what point do they have an obligation to inform their patients about new procedures supported by research? This first report of a 2-part series investigates the ethical aspects of these issues and describes some of the professional ethical dilemmas and obligations involved when new therapies are offered to the public.
Subject(s)
Dental Care/ethics , Ethics, Dental , Morals , Technology, Dental/ethics , Beneficence , Canada , Clinical Competence , Dentist-Patient Relations/ethics , Dentists/ethics , Evidence-Based Dentistry/ethics , Humans , Informed Consent/ethics , Moral Obligations , Patient Education as Topic , Personal Autonomy , Practice Patterns, Dentists'/ethics , Social Justice/ethics , Trust , Truth Disclosure/ethicsABSTRACT
With the constant introduction and marketing of new dental technologies, dentists sometimes have difficulty deciding whether a new technology will be beneficial to their patients. At the same time, these clinicians are professionally and legally obligated to inform their patients about all appropriate therapeutic alternatives. In this second article of a 2-part series, we review these obligations, as well as provide information about where dentists can find the necessary scientific evidence on which to base an informed decision.
