Ethical Conventions: A Study on Dental Practitioner’s Knowledge and Practice of Ethics in their Line of Work in Bangalore, India

Abstract

Introduction: Dentistry, being one of the healing professions, has an obligation to society that its members will stick on to high ethical standards of conduct. In India, studies done to assess whether the dental practitioners adhere to ethics in their line of work are very meager. Aim: The present study was conducted to assess the knowledge and practice of ethics in their line of work among practicing dentists from various dental colleges in Bangalore, India. Materials and Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional survey was conducted among 258 practicing dentists attached to various dental colleges in Bangalore city of Karnataka, India. Independent sample t-test was used to compare the knowledge and practice scores according to gender and qualification. One way ANOVA was used to compare knowledge and practice score according to practice type and practice period. Results: Mean knowledge score among males is 8.9 as compared to 9.43 among females and mean practice scores among males was 8.25 as compared to 8.29 in females. Statistically significant differences were found in the mean knowledge and practice scores among graduate dentists and specialists. Mean knowledge score among graduate dentists was 8.44 as compared to 9.36 among specialists and mean practice scores among graduate dentists was 7.7 as compared to 8.53 in specialists. Conclusion: A significant association between the knowledge and practice scores was observed, implying that with an increase in knowledge, there was also an increase in the practices of ethics among study population.

Keywords

• dentistry
• ethical issues
• professional education
• specialists