A dental surgeon who has agreed to provide care to a patient is obliged
to:
– provide all the care within his power, either personally or with the help of qualified third parties;
– to act always with propriety and kindness towards the patient and to be compassionate towards him.
Except in emergencies and in cases where he would fail in his duties of humanity, the dental surgeon may refuse care for professional or personal reasons, provided that:
– never to harm the patient;
– to ensure continuity of care and to provide useful information to this end.
The dental surgeon, in his prescriptions, must remain within the limits
imposed by the patient’s condition. He must not in conscience prescribe a very expensive treatment without informing the patient or his family of the sacrifices involved and the benefits they can expect.
The dental surgeon should never give unnecessary care to a patient for profit.
When urgently called upon to attend to an incompetent person and unable to obtain the consent of the patient’s legal representative in good time, the dental surgeon should provide the necessary care.
A serious prognosis may legitimately be withheld from the patient but should be brought to the attention of the patient’s family or the attending physician.
The dental surgeon must draw up his bill of fees.
He may not refuse his client an explanation of this.
The consultation between the treating dentist and a doctor or another dental surgeon justifies a separate fee.
The attendance of the treating dental surgeon at a surgical operation entitles him to a separate fee but only where such attendance has been requested or agreed to by the patient or his family.
Any sharing of fees between dentists and practitioners of any medical discipline is strictly prohibited.
Each practitioner must ask for his fees separately.
Acceptance, solicitation, or offer of fee-splitting, even if not followed by action, constitutes serious professional misconduct.
The choice of assistants, operating assistants, or anesthetists may not be imposed on the treating dental surgeon.
Each of the doctors or dental surgeons intervening in this capacity must present distinctly his bill of fees.