Clinical, ethical and legal importance of post-therapeutic information provided to patients in restorative dental treatment

Lívia Graziele Rodrigues, João Batista de Souza, Mauro Machado do Prado, Rogério Vieira Reges e Rhonan Ferreira Silva

Introduction: Despite the development of composite resin quality, dental restorations, as well as other dental procedures, are not free from failure, whether caused by patient’s biological conditions or professional’s technical non-compliance. Objective: To identify factors that may result in clinical failure of direct esthetic dental restorations, by means of a literature review, while discussing the ethical and legal aspects inherent to the theme and proposing a model of restorative post-treatment guidelines that can be used in clinical practice. Discussion: Restorative Dentistry failure depends on patient’s biological conditions and the dentist’s clinical management, both of which can lead to negative treatment results. It is the professional’s duty to inform the patient about the treatment to be performed, as well as make comments about the post-treatment phase, so that both are performed as best as possible. According to the Dental Code of Ethics and the Consumer Protection Code, a model of restorative post-treatment guidelines was proposed. Conclusion: Thus, the importance of patient education by dentists, regardless of the complexity of the undertaken procedure, is emphasized, since this information is intended to protect patient’s health, in addition to endorsing professionals in legal proceedings.

Keywords: Permanent tooth restoration. Dental material. Dentin sensitivity. Forensic Dentistry.

How to cite: Rodrigues LG, Souza JB, Prado MM, Reges RV, Silva RF. Clinical, ethical and legal importance of post-therapeutic information provided to patients in restorative dental treatment. J Clin Dent Res. 2016 Apr-June;13(2):60-8. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.14436/2447-911x.13.2.060-068.oar

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