The Mental Capacity Act 2005: Considerations for obtaining consent for dental treatment

The Mental Capacity Act 2005 provides a legal framework within which specific decisions must be made when an individual lacks the mental capacity to make such decisions for themselves. With an increasingly aged, medically complex and in some cases socially isolated population presenting for dental care, dentists need to have a sound understanding of the appropriate management of patients who lack capacity to consent to treatment when they present in the dental setting. Patients with acute symptoms requiring urgent care and un-befriended patients present additional complexities. In these situations a lack of familiarity with how best to proceed and confusion in the interpretation of relevant guidance, combined with the working time pressures experienced in dental practice may further delay the timely dental management of vulnerable patients. We will present and discuss the treatment of three patients who were found to lack the mental capacity necessary to make decisions about their dental care and illustrate how their differing situations determined the appropriate management for each.