March 02, 2018

AM: Ethics and Professionalism in Dental Advertising
PM: Applied Ethics in Dental Practice
Category 1 Core Course



Barry Schwartz

Break Down

Ethics and Professionalism in Dental Advertising

With the exponential growth of social media and the Internet, the world of advertising is changing quickly. With so many dentists to choose from, especially in metropolitan areas, and so much information available online, many dentists are concerned about patient retention and attracting new patients and are therefore feeling the need to hop on board the social networking bandwagon or be left behind. Quite often, dentist's moral compass can be lost in the process. This session will highlight the changes in advertising regulations along with the professional implications of marketing and advertising strategies in dentistry. A number of effective and professional alternatives in marketing will be presented along with a ten step plan to improve the dentist's image

Learning Objectives:

  • To appreciate the inter-relationship of ethics, professionalism and successful dental practice.
  • To understand the pros and cons of various marketing strategies.
  • To integrate current regulations into advertising and professional practice.

Applied Ethics in Dental Practice

Interactions between dental patients, dental staff and the dentist can often create complicated ethical and professional challenges. Discussions in this session will examine several cases which highlight ethical conflicts and help integrate the RCDSO Codes and guidelines into dental practice situations. Issues such as child neglect, domestic violence and insurance co-payment can often confound many dentists when they try to do the right thing. By following a patient-centred perspective and careful analysis of the factors that may impact on the profession and the community, dentists should be better prepared to deal with a wider variety of professionally challenging issues.

Learning Objectives:

  • to be able to analyze an ethical dilemma using a principle-based approach
  • to integrate a decision-making process that will assist in case analysis
  • to appreciate the impact of poor decisions on the profession and one's own practice

About the Speaker

Barry Schwartz is Assistant Professor at Schulich Medicine & Dentistry, Western University, London Ontario and is Course Director for Practice Administration where the focus is on critical thinking, interpersonal-communications and applied ethics. He received his DDS and MHSc in Bioethics from the University of Toronto. Dr. Schwartz was in clinical practice for 25 years. He conducts ongoing research projects at Western and has published many articles both nationally and internationally on the subject of dental ethics. He was awarded the Fellowship in Teaching Innovation Research Award at the University of Western Ontario. Dr. Schwartz has been recognized as a Fellow of the Pierre Fauchard Academy and a Fellow of the American College of Dentists for his contributions in dental ethics.