Summer 23 www.nvda.org 13 Featured Article They must weigh various factors and use a certain amount of discretion when deciding on how much information to give the patient. In certain situations, the patient may be unable to give informed consent. If an emergency situation arises whereby the patient is unable to communicate, yet treatment must be rendered, implied consent may be necessary. The most common situation where implied consent is utilized is where the patient is unconscious in a medical emergency and rapid treatment is necessary to save the patient’s life. An interesting yet difficult concept deals with children under the age of eighteen. At what point do they have the ability to consent to treatment? The legal standard used to determine whether children can consent to treatment depends on whether they are considered “mature” or “emancipated” and varies from state to state. The standard of care today states the duty of a dentist to disclose is limited to those disclosures which a “reasonable” dental practitioner would make under the same or similar circumstances. This full disclosure of facts is necessary to assure informed consent by the dentist’s patient. The necessary information to be disclosed consists of the following: • Diagnosis. The patient must be informed of the tests required in making a diagnosis. They must also be informed of the alternatives to the tests and the possible consequences of not having the tests completed. • Nature and purpose of the proposed treatment. The dentist must provide the patient with enough “reasonable” information concerning the proposed treatment and the nature of the procedure so that the patient is informed. » It is the dentist’s duty to place the welfare of their patient above all else. A dentist must give his patient sufficient information so that consent given by the patient is informed, but the dentist may withhold information if that disclosure would be harmful to their patient.
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