Public Health, Dental Jurisprudence, Ethics, and Infection Control
What the exam expects
This domain covers population oral health, the legal framework of dental practice in Taiwan, professional ethics, and infection control. You must know the principles of epidemiology, the structure of the dental care system, and the standard precautions that prevent transmission of infection.
Concepts to master
- Epidemiology: incidence versus prevalence, sensitivity and specificity, and the design of screening programs. DMFT is a common index of caries experience.
- Dental jurisprudence: licensure, scope of practice, informed consent, and record keeping. Understand the legal duty to obtain consent and to maintain confidentiality.
- Ethics: beneficence, nonmaleficence, autonomy, and justice. Conflicts of interest and referral ethics are frequently tested.
- Infection control: standard precautions, hand hygiene, personal protective equipment, sterilization of instruments, and safe disposal of sharps. Hepatitis B and C and HIV are the main bloodborne pathogens of concern.
Traps
A common trap is confusing incidence (new cases) with prevalence (all cases). Another is assuming that standard precautions apply only to known infectious patients; they apply to all patients. Questions may also test whether a dentist may advertise or solicit patients, which is regulated.
Worked rule of thumb
For any infection control question, apply standard precautions to every patient. For any legal question, ask whether informed consent was obtained and documented.
Study strategy
Review the DMFT index and the definitions of incidence and prevalence. Memorize the categories of standard precautions and the steps of instrument sterilization.