Bioethics in modern day dental practice - a principled vision

With increased awareness and education about oral health care, there's renewed attention to the moral facets of community dental health commitments and therefore the evolution of public health ethics in practice, teaching and research in dentistry. In dental practice, a set of principles contribute in establishing codes of ethics which govern personal behaviour and good doctor-patient relationship. Ethical principles are the moral rules and foundations of justification source to be applied in order to exercise an ethical practice. The aim of the present article was to provide the detailed insight into bioethical principles with patients’ autonomy, benefit/risk analysis, and justice in providing best oral health care to all, specially u nder served. It also aims to reinvent and re-establish the lost Glory of Doctor-Patient relationship through the application of bioethical principles in daily dental practice. The necessity for a paradigm shift from highly technical and individualistic dental training curricula is also discussed, along with the necessity to instill a holistic approach to moral and social responsibility in new dental graduates.