Putting patients' interests first

The recently published General Dental Council publication, Standards for the Dental Team¹ will, without doubt, have been top of UK readers' holiday reading. It provides all who work in the UK with guidance on core principles of practice, patient expectations, standards which will ensure that patient expectations are met and guidance on how to meet the standards. As such, it contains much useful information and readily digestible points on how best to practise dentistry, with the recommendations on appropriate reading for those outwith the UK.

The guideline, ‘Patients expect that their interests will be put before financial and business gain’, made me think. Average-sized dental practices may be classified as small businesses, with the attendant need to make sufficient income to provide for the practice owner and his/her staff. However, some dental businesses are now very large – among these being the dental corporates. How do such organizations square the recommendation above with the need to make a profit for shareholders and/or financiers? It has recently been pointed out that dentistry is now big business and it has been considered that Corporate Bodies introduce an additional layer of management which must be paid for.² These managers may ask their dentists to work with specified laboratories,² presumably because they have arranged an attractive rate for the work. What happens if the laboratory work is not up to standard? Will the dentist employed in such an organization feel able to challenge the practice or group manager?