| With
official advisory opinions revised to January
2005.
I. Introduction
The dental profession holds a special
position of trust within society.
As a consequence, society affords
the profession certain privileges that are not available
to members of the public-at-large.
In return, the profession makes a
commitment to society that its members will adhere
to high ethical standards of
conduct. These standards are embodied in the ADA Principles
of Ethics
and Code of Professional
Conduct (ADA Code). The ADA Code is, in effect, a written expression
of the obligations arising from the implied contract
between the dental profession
and society.
Members of the ADA voluntarily agree to abide by the ADA
Code as a condition of membership in the Association. They recognize
that continued public trust in the dental profession is based
on the commitment of individual dentists to high ethical standards
of conduct.
The ADA Code has three main components: The Principles of Ethics,
the Code of Professional Conduct and
the Advisory Opinions.
The Principles of Ethics are the aspirational goals of the profession.
They provide guidance and offer justification
for the Code of Professional Conduct and the Advisory
Opinions. There are five
fundamental principles that form the
foundation of the ADA Code:
patient autonomy, nonmaleficence, beneficence,
justice and veracity. Principles can overlap each other as well
as compete with each
other for priority. More than one principle
can justify a given element of the Code of Professional Conduct. Principles may at
times need to be balanced against each other, but, otherwise,
they are the profession's firm guideposts.
The Code of Professional Conduct is an expression of specific
types of conduct that are either required
or prohibited. The Code of Professional Conduct is a
product of the ADA's legislative system. All elements of the
Code of Professional Conduct result
from resolutions that are adopted by
the ADA's House of Delegates. The Code of Professional Conduct is binding on members of the
ADA, and violations may result in disciplinary action.
The Advisory Opinions are interpretations that apply the Code
of Professional Conduct to specific fact situations. They
are adopted by the ADA's Council on Ethics, Bylaws and Judicial
Affairs
to provide guidance to the membership
on how the Council might interpret the Code of Professional
Conduct in a disciplinary
proceeding.
The ADA Code is an evolving document and by its very
nature cannot be a complete articulation of all ethical obligations.
The ADA
Code is the result of an on-going dialogue between the dental
profession and society, and as such, is subject to continuous
review.
Although ethics and the law are closely related, they are not
the same. Ethical obligations may — and often do — exceed
legal duties. In resolving any ethical
problem not explicitly covered by the ADA Code, dentists should consider the ethical
principles, the patient's needs and interests, and any applicable
laws
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