Informed Consent How Important ?

Human beings are responsible for their own destinies. Informed Consent is when a competent individual makes decisions for her or himself. The informed consent process allows the patient or the custodial parent or, in the case of minors, legal guardian to participate in and retain autonomy over the health care received. The act of asking for consent, specifically informed consent from the patient fulfils three aspects. Firstly, respect for the patients’ right to make a choice regarding his body, secondly as an ethical and moral obligation and finally a legal necessity to safeguard the dentist from possibility of future legal action. Failure to do so violate patients’ trust in dentists and increases dentists’ liability to malpractice suits. The following review article aims to provide fundamental information regarding important ethical principle of informed consent. It also focuses on various types of consent and review of current literature.