Ethical considerations regarding the timing of orthodontic treatment

Clinical ethics and the resolution of ethical problems have traditionally been addressed through the use of "passed down" acts or statements that have been developed over time through a combination of written professional codes of conduct and unwritten protocol established and accepted by various professional cliques. This article presents an approach to dealing with chairside ethical dilemmas that balances accepted ethical principles such as Autonomy, Beneficence, Fidelity, Justice, Informed Consent, and Publicity as well as other concepts relative to the facts presented and to the parties involved. Party prioritization, value systems, and a schematic for analyzing chairside ethical problems is also presented. In addition, several case scenarios are presented for evaluation and discussion by the reader.