title: Ethical Conventions: A Study on Dental Practitioner's Knowledge and Practice of Ethics in their Line of Work in Bangalore, India.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Dentistry, being one of the healing professions, has an obligation to society that its members will stick on to high ethical standards of conduct. In India, studies done to assess whether the dental practitioners adhere to ethics in their line of work are very meager.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  The present study was conducted to assess the knowledge and practice of ethics in their line of work among practicing dentists from various dental colleges in Bangalore, India.
  
  
  METHODS
  A descriptive cross-sectional survey was conducted among 258 practicing dentists attached to various dental colleges in Bangalore city of Karnataka, India. Independent sample t-test was used to compare the knowledge and practice scores according to gender and qualification. One way ANOVA was used to compare knowledge and practice score according to practice type and practice period.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Mean knowledge score among males is 8.9 as compared to 9.43 among females and mean practice scores among males was 8.25 as compared to 8.29 in females. Statistically significant differences were found in the mean knowledge and practice scores among graduate dentists and specialists. Mean knowledge score among graduate dentists was 8.44 as compared to 9.36 among specialists and mean practice scores among graduate dentists was 7.7 as compared to 8.53 in specialists.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  A significant association between the knowledge and practice scores was observed, implying that with an increase in knowledge, there was also an increase in the practices of ethics among study population.
authors.affiliation: Senior Lecturer, Department of Public Health Dentistry, Manipal College of Dental Sciences , Manipal, Karnataka, India .
authors.forename: Prajna Pramod
authors.initials: PP
authors.lastname: Nayak
authors.affiliation: Student, Bangalore Institute of Dental Sciences , Bangalore, Karnataka, India .
authors.forename: Vamsee Krishnam
authors.initials: VK
authors.lastname: Raju
authors.affiliation: Professor and Head, Department of Public Health Dentistry, Bangalore Institute of Dental Sciences , Bangalore, Karnataka, India .
authors.forename: Vanishree
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Nanjundaiah
authors.affiliation: Reader, Department of Public Health Dentistry, Bangalore Institute of Dental Sciences , Bangalore, Karnataka, India .
authors.forename: Ramesh
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Laksmikantha
authors.affiliation: Reader, Department of Public Health Dentistry, Index Dental College , Madhya Pradesh, India .
authors.forename: Sushma Shankar
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Nayak
authors.affiliation: Assistant Professor, Department of Public Health Dentistry, Regional Institute of Medical Sciences , Imphal, Manipur, India .
authors.forename: Nandita
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Kshetrimayum
keywords: Dentistry; Ethical issues; Professional education; Specialists