The principle of autonomy as a guide for patient-professional relationships in dentistry: a literature review

• Autor(a) principal: Rodrigues, Vitória de Oliveira
• Data de Publicação: 2023
• Outros Autores: Machado, Fabrício Campos, Rocha, Karine Siqueira Cabral, Carvalho, Thiago de Amorim
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: por
• Título da fonte: Brazilian Journal of Implantology and Health Sciences
• Texto Completo: https://bjihs.emnuvens.com.br/bjihs/article/view/445
• topic: Odontologia; Bioética; Autonomia; Odontologia Legal; Dentistry; Bioethics; Autonomy; Forensic dentistry

The understanding of bioethical principles is fundamental to guide clinical practice in the health area, and this includes dentistry. Autonomy, justice, beneficence, and non-maleficence determine the appropriate conduct, whether in the academic, research, or clinical care fields. Among them, autonomy is the most relevant principle in the context of oral health care, so that the disrespect to this guideline may cause serious consequences for the patient who may feel coerced to do something that is not in his interest, and for the professional who may incur in ethical infraction, or even suffer a civil or even criminal lawsuit. The aim of this study was to describe how the bioethical principle of autonomy can be applied in patient-professional relationships in dentistry. Autonomy is applied at all moments of the very personal relationship between patient and professional, from the reception of the patient to the determination of the treatment plan and the execution of the procedures. The informed consent seems to be the fundamental document to ensure that the patient can safely make his choice about the treatment plan. Social status and financial factors can have a direct impact on the selection of the procedure, which can compromise the patient's autonomy. Thus, this study described the ways in which the bioethical principle of autonomy is applied in patient-professional relationships in dentistry, and further studies in this field are suggested, to keep professionals updated in the field of bioethics.