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A patient refusing to have care or demanding to have unnecessary care.

Ethical situations related to finances with patients

Staff ethical dilemmas

One dilemma could be when it comes to dealing with employees, such as hygienists, and what to do in a situation in which they may treat the patient in a way that doesn't align with one's moral values. Another could be when deciding a treatment for a patient, sometimes the patient may not be able to afford the best one, so one has to decide how to decide their treatment plan based on what is best for them or based on what they can afford

Whether you should increase the cost of services to make more profit.

Staff ethical dilemmas and insurance denying necessary procedures

The benefits of the patient vs the benefits of the practice as well as wanting the best for the patient but respecting their wishes.

Patient needs versus patient wants. Also managing esthetic cases

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1. Being careful to not judge patients or potential employees based off of surface level things.
2. Not over treating just for money.

Patients that require treatment, but dont have the money to pay.

When to raise fees to account for increases in inflation and not based around getting the largest profit.

The biggest ethical dilemma that comes to mind is choosing not to give pts false information that makes them think they need more treatment than is actually needed. Another would be managing your business income and expenses in a truthful way as it pertains to taxes. Another would be how to handle a long-term employee who has been involved in mistreating pts or doing things they shouldn't be doing.

ethical dilemmas requires a commitment to patient welfare, integrity, transparency, and ongoing reflection on one's professional responsibilities.

If you see a peer or dentist doing something unethical, such as over-treating patients to make more money

referring patients (conflict of interests)

Having to dismiss employees such as in the case where they are having financial issues making it a hard time to support their family, but you catch them stealing from the office.

failure to disclose dental mistakes, breaching of confidentiality, inappropriate treatment

A patient might ask me to do a full mouth of veneers, for example, because they don't like their smile, but the patient's natural teeth are healthy.

One ethical dilemma I expect to face as a practice owner is the patient that comes in demanding a specific treatment. For example, the patient that comes into the practice with rampant decay that wants veneers placed on all of their teeth, or the mom who wants veneers for her young school-age daughter.

Whether or not to push a certain treatment plan that is more profitable and persuade patients to choose it

When you make mistakes, whether you should just fix it or should inform the patient and be honest.

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Fraud attempts from employees

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In D1 year, we talked about the pillars of ethics in dentistry. One of these pillars is nonmaleficence, or "do no harm". If I were to be in a practice with another dentist who is overdiagnosing patients in order to create a larger profit, this would be an ethical dilemma violating that pillar. As a business owner, it is important to make sure that the patients are not exploited, but also that the insurance companies are not being exploited either. Miscoding a procedure to the insurance to gain a larger profit is a massive ethical dilemma that I, as a business owner, need to make sure is not happening under my name.

fun in the sun

Whether I should give friends or family discounts for my work.

Tx options vs cost for patients

whether veneers are ethical on younger patients

Maybe a dilemma where a patient needs a procedure or treatment in order to keep their teeth, but cannot afford them and by the time they can afford them the tooth will not able to be saved. Another ethical dilemma might be whether to tell something to the parents an 18 year old confides in you who is financially supported by their parents

Dental practice owners probably face ethical dilemmas involving patient confidentiality breaches, unsatisfied or difficult patients unhappy with treatment, dental procedure mistakes, disagreements with colleagues, just to name a few.

discounting treatment for pt that can not afford it, while not offering the discount to everyone

The quality of work versus the amount of production. Also the trust our patients have in us

As a practice owner, you may be faced with an ethical dilemma of a expressing bias or favoritism among the staff. While not illigal, this ethical breach could harm your image as a leader and result in staff disatisfaction. A small example, but a relevant one as staff relations and teamwork are essential

Balancing what procedures would be best for the patient and what procedures would be good for the patient but better for revenue.

As the practice owner I am responsible for all processes done in my dental clinic, but when little mistakes are made by employees that technically violate the law although they might be small and seen as insignificant I have a choice on what to do with the next course of action.

Whether or not to purchase less effective materials because they are cheaper

Treatment considerations with patients. For example, they may want the cheapest option, but it would not be my first choice for providing the best for their oral health.

Coming up with treatment plans with a minor that may havve a concerning medical issue that they are not wanting their parents or guardians to be aware of.

Some ethical dilemmas I expect to face as a practice owner/leader include: a patient requesting treatment that is not entirely necessary ("I want my teeth to look like a supermodel"), a patient asking to pay at a later date because they cannot afford treatment yet they need to be treated immediately, an employee asking for a raise to help will bills but they have not been performing up to your standards, etc.

Avoid deceptive advertisement

One of the most obvious ethical dilemma a dentist faces as a practice owner is encountering a patient that may not be able to afford the best option for their case. While it would be great to provide the optimal treatment for every patient, the fact is that sometimes dentists need to evaluate what is actually doable for the patient to carry out. This may mean doing something that is not the perfect, ideal treatment, but doing it in the name of getting a patient out of pain or providing the appropriate service to meet the patient's need.

Ethical dilemmas I expect to face as a practice owner will be managing disagreements between staff. It is unrealistic to believe staff will always get along and therefore it will be crucial in the future for me to remain neutral and understanding to help mediate.

what do you do when you have a patient that really needs treatment but cant afford it? what do you do if you have a new patient from an old dentist and you see that their previous work is not compliant with modern practice and does not exemplify non-maleficence?

Many of us will end up working for DSOs. Sometimes, the corporations pressure us to meet certain production thresholds. It can be easy to fall into a trap of only presenting or recommending more expensive treatment plans in order to meet these goals, though this is not the ethical thing to do.
Another example is triaging an emergency patient. If a patient is truly an emergency, we have an ethical responsibility to take care of them first even if it means scheduled patients are delayed a bit. However, if we don't see a scheduled patient for something that wasn't a true emergency, then we are failing to uphold the beneficence ethical principle for our scheduled patients.

Profts vs. what the patient needs.

Offering and/or providing a friends and family discount

Patients who talk bad about other dentists to you.