PhD Scientific Days 2025

Mental Health Sciences I.

Contemporary Bioethical Dilemmas in Dentistry: Patient Autonomy, Medical Necessity, and Sustainability

Name of the presenter

Kovács Szilárd Dávid

Institute/workplace of the presenter

Institute of Behavioural Sciences

Authors

Dr. Szilárd Dávid Kovács¹

1: Magatartástudományi Intézet

Text of the abstract

Introduction: Ideally, medical interventions serve the patient's medical interests. However, this can be limited by patient autonomy, as patients may request non-beneficial interventions. Additionally, sustainability has also become an important consideration in treatment planning, as dentistry relies heavily on single-use items and regular patient visits. My aim was to explore the dilemma between oral health and patient autonomy in dentistry, and the attitudes of dentists toward implementing sustainable practices.
Methods: To explore the dilemma between patient autonomy and oral health in dentistry, we conducted interviews with dentists and patients. Topics included ethical values, personal experiences, esthetic interventions, complex treatment planning to preserve all teeth, and patient trust in dentists. The interviews were examined using Epistemic Network Analysis, a visualization of the relative frequency of code co-occurrences. In evaluating dentists’ attitudes toward sustainability, we observed and interviewed dentists on the following topics: single- and multiple-use items, preventive approaches, digital technologies. Observations were analyzed using summary statistics, while interviews were examined using the Qualitative Network Approach, which maps the types of connections between co-occurring codes.
Results: Dentists and patients typically employed distinct sets of codes. Dentists’ narratives aligned with concepts from bioethical theory. In contrast, patients’ narratives focused more on personal experiences and comfort during or after treatment. Further results will highlight the acceptance of readily available, alternative practices by dentists.
Conclusion: Dentists are trained to understand and apply bioethical principles, whereas patients may not be as familiar with them. This highlights the importance of empirical research that ensures patient perspectives are not overlooked. Moreover, studying dentists’ attitudes provides useful insights for developing practical guidelines. It reveals both the areas where dentists are already engaged and the barriers that prevent them from adopting more sustainable alternatives.
Funding: Supported by the EKÖP-2024-2.1.1-EKÖP-2024-00004 University Research Scholarship Programme of the Ministry for Culture and Innovation from the source of the National Research, Development and Innovation Fund