Reimagining a justice oriented professionalism: a call for relational ethics in oral health education

Across the delivery of oral health care, whether in the halls of learning environments or the operatories of individualized clinicians, corporations, or even unverifiable private equity led acquisitions, ethics is largely seen as a theoretical exercise separate from the day-to-day realities of clinical practice. A call for relational ethics, not merely traditions' ethical principlism, is more than theoretical exercise or an intellectual inquiry. This call is quite literally coming from both inside and outside of the proverbial oral health house. In examining the absence of holistic community-centered commitments of principles such as veracity and justice, this article provides a framework for conceptualizing a reimagined professionalism across various domains of oral health care delivery. Anchored by truth-telling and anti-oppressive justice, the author explores educational practice and pathways, models of care delivery, barriers to optimal learning and clinical environments, while providing individualized and systemic recommendations for change, While the goals are robust, [re]building trust and shifting dentistry and oral health toward outcomes advancing real health equity is imperative for this hour. True ethical dental education and practice must move beyond individual behavior of patients and providers alike, toward systems of accountability, truth-telling, and community engaged partnership.