Professional Ethics and Standards of Conduct
Ethics questions ask what a reasonable, honest dentist should do when the law is silent or ambiguous. The exam tests the ADA Principles of Ethics and Code of Professional Conduct, conflicts of interest, abandonment, boundary violations, impaired practice, and the line between unethical conduct and illegal conduct.
Core principles
- Patient autonomy: honor informed refusal and the patient’s right to decide.
- Nonmaleficence and beneficence: avoid harm and act in the patient’s interest.
- Justice: treat similarly situated patients fairly and avoid discrimination.
- Veracity: tell the truth about diagnosis, fees, credentials, and outcomes.
Conduct that draws discipline
Fraudulent billing, misrepresentation of credentials, abandoning a patient without notice or emergency coverage, practicing while impaired, sexual or exploitative boundary violations, and fee splitting or kickbacks disguised as marketing or referral payments.
Worked example
A dentist sends all crown work to one laboratory and accepts an all-expenses-paid vacation from the lab. The arrangement is not a volume discount to the patient and is not disclosed. Accepting the benefit in exchange for referrals is a conflict of interest and likely an illegal inducement; the dentist should decline or disclose under applicable law and ethics rules. The patient’s clinical care may be fine, but the conduct still violates the standard.
Traps
- Assuming ethical duties are only aspirational; the code is enforceable through board discipline.
- Calling a disagreement over treatment “abandonment” without a formal termination and notice.
- Believing that a signed financial waiver cures a conflict of interest.
- Missing that impairment includes prescription drug or alcohol misuse, not just obvious intoxication.
Exam focus
Identify the duty owed to the patient, the competing interest, and whether disclosure or refusal resolves it.