Who decides what is Ethical

Bismillah..

Ethics is pluralistic. Individuals disagree among themselves about what is right and what is wrong, and even when they agree, it is often for different reasons. In some societies, this disagreement is regarded as normal and there is a great deal freedom of freedom to act however who wants, as long as it does not violate the rights of others. This individual freedom may present a challenge for dentist and their patients, whose ethical differences must be overcome in order to reach their common goal. In more traditional societies, there is greater agreement on ethics and greater social pressure, sometimes back by laws, to act in certain ways rather than others. In such societies culture and religion often play a dominant role in determining ethical behaviour.

The answer to the question," who decides what is ethical for people in general?" therefore varies from one society to another and even within the same society. In liberal societies, individuals have a great deal of freedom to decide for themselves what is ethical, although they will likely be influenced by their families, friends, religion, the media and other external sources. In more traditional societies, family and clan elders, religious authorities and political leaders usually have a greater role than individuals in determining what is ethical.

Despite these differences, it seems that human beings everywhere can agree on some fundamental ethical principles, namely the basic human rights proclaimed in the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other widely accepted and officially endorsed documents. The human rights that are especially important for dental ethics include the rights to freedom from discrimination, to freedom of opinion and expression, to equal access to public services in one's country and to health care.

For dentist, the question, "who decides what is ethical?" has until recently had a somewhat different answer than for people in general. During the past two centuries the dental profession has developed its own standards of behaviour for its members, which are expressed in codes of ethics and related policy documents. At a global level, FDI has set forth a broad range of ethical statements that specify the behaviour required of dentist no matter where they live and practice. In many, if not most, countries dental association have been responsible for developing and enforcing the applicable ethical standards. Depending on the country's approach to health law, these standards may have legal status.

The dental profession's privilege of being able to determine its own ethical standards has never been absolute, however. For example:

Dentist have always been subject to the general laws of land and have sometimes been punished for acting contrary to these laws.

Some dental organisations are strongly influenced by religious teachings, which impose additional obligations on their members besides those applicable to all dentist.

In many countries the organisations that set the standards for dentists' behaviour ad monitor their compliance now have a significant non-dentist membership.

The ethical directives of dental associations are general in nature; they cannot deal with every situation that dentists might face in their practice. In most situations, dentist have to decide for themselves what is the right way to act, but in making such decisions, it is helpful to know what other dentist in similar situatins. Dental codes of ethics and policy statements reflect a general consensus about the way dentist should act and they should be followed unless there are good reasons for acting otherwise.