Informed consent in dental practice: experiences of Dutch patients.
OBJECTIVE
To assess experiences of the Dutch population concerning the implementation of some of their rights by dentists.


METHODS
A postal questionnaire.


METHODS
All 1,616 participants of the 'Consumer Panel Health Care' in the Netherlands.


RESULTS
78.8% of the subjects responded. Patients were satisfied with the general information they received from their dentist. Their experiences of receiving information about specific legislation-related issues, however, were less positive. A considerable percentage of patients indicate that their dentist did not always inform them about risks or alternative treatment options.


CONCLUSIONS
The autonomy of patients, which is the key principle underlying the 1995 Medical Treatment Contract Act, can seriously be undermined without making available this kind of information.
Schouten
B C
BC
Department of Social Dentistry and Dental Health Education, Louwesweg 1, 1066 EA Amsterdam, The Netherlands. B.Schouten@acta.nl
Friele
R
R
D003142:Communication; D003729:Dental Care / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D003812:Dentist-Patient Relations; D005610:Freedom; D006801:Humans; D007258:Informed Consent / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D009426:Netherlands; D010344:Patient Advocacy / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D010353:Patient Education as Topic; D010358:Patient Participation / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D012307:Risk Factors; D013223:Statistics as Topic; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires