Attitudes of dental practitioners towards advertising and competition

This paper examines the attitudes of dental practitioners towards competition and advertising and the changes that have occurred there between 1985 and 1988. It provides an insight into the views of members of the profession as they dealt with the issue of commercialisation. The study came at a time when proposed legislative changes would profoundly impact upon the profession's stance on business ethics and upon the business practice of its members. The data were derived from a self-completion questionnaire, 1,500 of which were evenly distributed among the members of five professions, doctors, dentists, lawyers, accountants, and veterinarians. The main findings were that the dental profession had moved along the collegiality-competition continuum only slightly, preferring to shun the use of overtly competitive behaviour while seeking to improve the efficiency of practice management.