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Is dentistry the orphaned field of medicine? Ethical consideration for evidence-based dentistry

Research Output: Contribution to journal Article Peer-review

Open access

Abstract

It was a watershed moment when Archie Cochrane published his work on Effectiveness and efficiency: random reflections on health services which was considered the start of evidence-based healthcare as we now know it. From there onward, evidence-based dentistry (EBD) has developed and evolved and there has been little attention to the interlink between EBD and ethics. The aim of this paper is to explore some of the ethical basis of evidence-based approach to healthcare utilising Beauchamp and Childress' four principles. EBD will be examined in relation to a variety of ethical theories. The case will be made that dentistry can, at times, be considered the orphaned field of medicine and an examination will be presented about how this may affect the uptake of EBD in practice. While exploring the strengths and weaknesses of EBD from an ethical viewpoint, we will highlight some of the challenges facing many dental practitioners in judging what is considered high-quality evidence and examine ways in which this could be improved with links to patient outcomes from an ethical perspective.

Publication Information

Output type

Research Output: Contribution to journal Article Peer-review

Original language

English

Pages from-to (Number of pages)

Pages 177-179

Journal (Volume, Issue Number)

British Dental Journal (Volume 226, Issue 4)

Publication milestones

  • Published - 08/02/2019

Publication status

Published - 08/02/2019

ISSN

0007-0610

External Publication IDs

  • handle.net: 10547/623207
  • Scopus: 85061236040

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