Reporting child maltreatment: dentistry's ethical responsibility

The initial steps in the prevention of child maltreatment are early recognition and reporting. Reporting laws were not made to punish offenders, rather to help those children in need. Statistics indicate that among previously abused children who were returned home without intervention (reporting or counseling for the family), 5 percent were killed and 25 percent were seriously re-injured (22). While the nation's overall crime rate declined more than 21 percent from 1993 to 1997, the number of reports of child maltreatment increased by 8 percent with confirmed cases growing 4 percent during this same period (1). The dental profession must take a more active role on behalf of children in the prevention of this problem. When an incident arises that may result in a conflict between the dentist's personal interests and the well being of a patient, the dentist must always act in the best interest of the patient. Children have the right to grow up in a loving and nurturing environment. As dentists, we have the moral, ethical, and legally mandated responsibility to help protect this right through the recognition and reporting of child abuse and neglect.