FDI DENTAL ETHICS MANUAL UNVEILS IN DUBAI

A resource for both practicing and future dental professionals

In its efforts to leading the world to optimal health and also achieving its mission to advance and promote the ethics, art, science and practice of dentistry, in 2006 the FDI commissioned the writing of the FDI Dental Ethics Manual. A little more than a year later, the Dental Ethics Manual is now ready to be unveiled at the FDI Annual World Dental Congress in Dubai.

The Dental Ethics Manual emphasises the importance of professional ethics and the need for professional ethical values as a part of the dental education curriculum. It offers itself as a textbook that can be used in both graduate and post-graduate dental programmes.

“Dental education and training will never be complete unless the curricula of dental schools incorporate a course on dental and medical ethics. The FDI trusts that this Manual will become a source of reference for dental students and practitioners alike,” said Dr Michèle Aerden, FDI President. “This Manual does not list what is right and what is wrong, but provides values and practical examples that will give food for thought and will guide practitioners in making sound ethical decisions in the best interests of their patients.”

The manual was authored by Prof John Williams with the support of the FDI Working Group on Ethics and Legislation and an advisory panel. Prof Williams’s experience in ethics includes his post as Director of Ethics at the Canadian Medical Association and also as the head of the medial ethics unit launched by the World Medical Association in 2003.

The Dental Ethics Manual will be distributed free of charge at the congress at the FDI Pavilion. An electronic version of the manual is available for download from the FDI website.