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Dental Tribune United Kingdom Edition

February 11-17, 201318 United Kingdom EditionOpinion I t has recently been re- ported in the press that private dental treatment complaints received by the Dental Complaints Service (DCS) for the year May 2011 to April 2012 have risen by 17 per cent. Of these complaints, the most frequent concerns raised by patients were un- clear information, not being made aware of the treatment prognosis or alternatives, and being ignored when concerns were raised. Though the DCS figures are of course shocking, I must say they are not really surpris- ing, especially when we con- sider the changing nature of our profession, the way we are perceived by the public, and of course, the current economic climate. Like it or loathe it, times have changed in dentistry, and we work in a profession now that is no longer solely occupied with the treatment of pain. With a broader range of treatments now available to patients than ever before, so our range of fees is equally broad. While a simple hygiene visit may cost a patient less than £40, some of the treat- ments at the very highest end of the spectrum can cost in ex- cess of £100,000! While I do not doubt for one moment that we should be able to offer these kinds of high end treatments to pa- tients should they so choose (and should they be able to afford it!), when one consid- ers the nature of our modern consumer-driven society, the expectations of the patient, even for a treatment that costs only a few hundred pounds, need to be carefully managed in order to avoid complaint or litigation. And it is here I fear we find the problem. In the case of private dentistry in particu- lar, patients are far less “pa- tients” these days, than they are consumers. They have rights as consumers, and they are often keen to express their rights. When the cost of treat- ment starts to soar, so too do patient expectations, to the point where if a treatment costs £20,000, a patient will (with some justification), ex- pect the world. For the young or inexpe- rienced dentist, this whole area is a minefield, and even the more experienced dentist can easily be caught out. Ethi- cal consent has, and always will be a point of much debate in dentistry as it is in all ar- eas of the medical profession, though now the idea of con- sent has just as many financial implications as it does ethical and legal. After all, if a patient has a complaint, often it is eas- ier to settle than it is to drag out the process and risk bad publicity, even if you aren’t necessarily in the wrong. A return to old-fashioned values Managing patient expectations is crucial, says Michael Sultan ‘Ethical consent has, and always will be a point of much debate in den- tistry as it is in all areas of the medi- cal profession’