Ethics Violations Within The Field Of Dentistry

A common value shared throughout this community is allowing your patients to trust you with their health needs. Allowing them to trust you builds a relationship with the patients, as well as others in your profession.

In a lot of ways, ethics can be very opinionated. Sure, there are guidelines such as code of conduct, but, just like things such as religion, it can be based all in how you interpret it and how you apply it. Unfortunately, many bad things are done for the “greater good.” As dentistry is gearing more towards aesthetics, ethical issues have been becoming more on the raise than ever before. Some ethical issues of concern in the dental chair would be things like patient autonomy or over-diagnosis/treatment. Now a days, more and more people have sought after that perfect “hollywood” smile. With this becoming in higher demand, restorations, such as veneers or crowns, are being used to cover up defects in the teeth rather than as a treatment to restore

The Ethical Dilemma Ebony French Intro to Dental Assisting Vatterott College Courtney Oetting When working with the general public, there is a list of unsaid ethical expectations. Treat everyone with dignity and respect. Treat everyone the same, do not discriminate and so on. Unfortunately, this is not every patient’s experience.

Not only did the dentist have possible legal violations, but there is evident failure to follow ethical principles. One of the applications of the

While most of the patients I interacted with were seeking non-dental care, I met patients who were seeking care to health conditions that stem from their oral health such as oral abscesses, which our team was unable to treat except for prescribing antibiotics or painkillers. I encountered similar situations when I shadowed physicians in the emergency room of hospitals, observing a variety of craniofacial disorders originating from a preventable tooth decay. From these observations, I learned that patients often did not receive treatment that addressed the root of their problems: their oral health. As the result, I learned that many physicians saw the same patient repeatedly for problems that would otherwise be easily prevented through proper preventive dental care. Determining to address the unmet needs for accessible preventive dental care, I decided to pursue a career in dentistry so that I can provide a positive and meaningful impact to the underserved community on their oral health and ultimately their overall

A nurse is given an opportunity to help patients, either if its by helping them through a very serious sickness or just helping a patient get to the bathroom on time, or a time when happiness is overfilling the room and a child is being born. Registered nurses provide a wide variety of patient care services (Mitchell, p.12). A Nurse must always know where to begin and where to stop, as any other career in the health field there is always something that cannot be done by everyone but only the certified person, a nurse must always remain inside her scope of practice to prevent any misunderstandings. A nurse must also follow a code of ethics , the code of ethics of the American Association of Medical Assistants states that a nurse should at all times render service with full respect and dignity of humanity, respect confidential information obtained by a patients file, uphold the honor and high principles the profession and accept its discipline, and last but not least always want to improve her services to better serve the health and well being of the community. (Mitchell, p.65).

Hundreds of years ago, the dental profession and the medical profession was perceived as two separate entities, however, this bifurcated health system has created an epidemic in oral disease with our aging population (Nagro, 2016). Dentistry should be more closely integrated with medicine and the health care system, however, organized dentistry has fought to stay a monopoly. They have protested regarding dental personnel being independent, even in the advancement of serving more rural areas, just as they repelled being part of Medicare. Finally, there are a few states that have alternative choices for a dental hygienist to travel to people who can’t get to a traditional dental office. Some of these states include Minnesota, Colorado, Oregon,

Incorporating professionalism, respect and empathy are a few of the most vital behaviors to attain in the dental hygiene profession. As a student we learn, read, and study about these behaviors expected of us; however I believe it is not until working independently with patients when we truly learn and master these three important behaviors. Similar to being a student, I feel that a professional is continuously learning, reading the latest news in the dental field and being familiar with the current dental research. While reflecting on the professional standpoint of care it can be viewed as both professionalism and being a professional; which are both similar by definition yet with a slightly different perspective. Professionalism is defined

McCall Ethics Case Study Jerry is Dr. Williams’s office assistant. He has received professional training as both a medical assistant and an LPN. He is handling all the phone calls while the receptionist is at lunch. A patient calls and says he must have a prescription refill for Valium and that the provider, a friend, calls in the medication prior to any flights. This type of request happens often and in slightly different scenarios, but the outcome should remain the same to avoid ethical and legal issues. This paper will review the case study to help resolve the problem at hand, refilling a prescription without provider authorization. Qualified Medical Training Understanding the definitions of a licensed practical nurse, LPN, and a medical assistant, MA is the first step to making a factual conclusion for this case study. Support staff to the provider cannot make decisions about medication refills for patients without a direct order from the provider. This action is outside the scope of practice for an LPN or MA. Licensed Practical Nurse An LPN is a role in support of the nurse or RN, a registered Nurse usually in a skilled nursing setting such as a hospital or long-term care facility. As defined by the National Federation of Licensed Practical Nurses, NFLPN, an LPN “means the performance for compensation of authorized acts of nursing which utilize specialized knowledge and skills and which meet the health needs of people in a variety of settings under the direction

Health care has been an issue for the United States of America for multiple years. Dental care, a topic that does not get much attention because people believe it is trivial, plays a major part in people’s lives, particularly children. Gerard van Honthorst’s The Tooth Puller shows a dentist pulling a patient’s tooth with five observers watching. Van Honthorst shows how in awe or scared people are of the dentist. There is a negative outlook on dentists and dental care: people are afraid of the dentist giving them their negative connotation, while dental care only causes pain in many people eyes. There is a problem in the health care system and improvement in the system is needed because health care is a right for every citizen, especially dental care. The United States of America’s government should allow dental therapist to conduct the procedure that normal dentist conduct for free for children under the age of twelve. The government should fund the teaching, training, and employment of dental therapists to care for underserved people.

Health insurance fraud is what drives up health insurance premium costs, wastes taxpayer’s money, but can also endanger beneficiaries or leave them uninsurable. In 2015, Medicare Strike Force reported over $700 million in false billing by doctors, nurses, other licenses medical professionals, laboratories, and individuals (FBI.gov). This is a staggering figure that is only getting worse. In this fictitious federal case I will be describing the criminal offender, the crime that was committed, the charge handed down by law enforcement, and the judicial process from the beginning of the criminal case to the sentencing of Dr. Richard Heartman, an internal medicine physician.

Anyone in the medical field may seem trustworthy because most of the time they are. Unfortunately, there are those individuals who seek financial gain and are no longer trustworthy. There is no exact amount of how much fraud has been committed within the health care system, because it usually is never detected. Like in the case of Dr. Guerrero who committed a healthcare fraud scheme against his patients, employees of the health care system, and health care insurances. According to Vivek Pande and Will Maas, Dr. Guerrero was able to commit fraud against clients and the health care system and insurance providers; it is an ingenious crime, because the public considers them intelligent and high achieving individuals. (Pande & Maas, 2013) Overall, health care providers have a choice

Health care professionals are subject to a multitude of professional, legal, and ethical responsibilities which call for personal judgment to be utilized in such a manner as to protect clients as well as public wellness and interests. Overall considerations in handling such duties may be considered to be respect of a client’s autonomy, confidence, and recognition of obligations owed to all clients. While the aforementioned acts fall within the professional realm, there are also legal implications that guide care. Therefore, it can be said that ethical considerations occur in observation of legal responsibilities. Confidential information is perceived as private facts which are disclosed with the

“Professional integrity derives its substance from the fundamental goals or mission of the profession” (Wakin, 1996, para. 15). Meaning to say, individuals seek for a professional’s valued and ethical advice to which the professional holds their responsibility to maintain and exceeds the level of their expertise. For example, a general practitioner will treat a variety of patients, from all different walks of life with a plethora of different problems. It is their duty to diagnose and treat the patient to the best of their professional ability without prejudice. Another aspect of their duties is the principle of patient confidentiality. Medical professionals are legally bound to not divulge any information provided to them by their patients.

After looking at various articles on the Dentaltown website, I came across an interesting article that showed an unethical dilemma. In this article, a dentist (lower-priced dentist) is talking about an 83-year-old patient that came into his office for a second opinion. The lower priced dentist mentions that the woman needed some basic dental work done to her teeth to keep them healthy. While (deleted comma) the woman was at her general dentist, the dentist was attempting to force the woman to get a more expensive cosmetic work done. Her general dentist provided her with an expensive treatment plan for approximately $14,700. Upon hearing the cost, the patient went for a second opinion from another dentist in town. After looking at her x-rays, she was given another inexpensive treatment option using composite now and later putting in crowns if needed. The patient got her work done with the inexpensive treatment and goes back to her regular dentist for a routine check-up. She told her regular dentist about the bonding work done instead of the crowns. At hearing this, he replied that he could have done that for her as well.