Consumer-driven and commercialised practice in dentistry: an ethical and professional problem?

Area of Science:

• Dental Ethics
• Healthcare Economics
• Professionalism in Healthcare

Background:

• The healthcare landscape is increasingly influenced by commercial models.
• A shift towards viewing dental services as commodities for consumers is emerging.
• This paradigm shift necessitates an examination of dentistry's core purpose and ethical underpinnings.

Purpose of the Study:

• To explore and assess whether dentistry is a commodity.
• To evaluate the legitimacy of dentistry as a business.
• To analyze the impact of commercialization on the patient-provider relationship.

Main Methods:

• Conceptual analysis of healthcare commercialization.
• Ethical assessment of business practices in dentistry.
• Examination of the patient-professional relationship within a consumerist framework.

Main Results:

• Dentistry can be perceived as a commodity, contingent on service delivery and patient-provider relationship interpretation.
• Commercially-driven dental practices can undermine the fiduciary nature of patient interactions.
• The patient-practitioner relationship is threatened by transactional approaches disguised as consumer empowerment.

Conclusions:

• Managing commercial elements in dentistry requires rejecting competitive practices and coercive advertising, not the consumerist paradigm itself.
• Preserving professional values and duties is crucial.
• True patient empowerment in dental services is illusory if the relationship becomes solely transactional.