Informed Consent as an Expression of Autonomy in the Dental Patient

Abstract

Mr. Editor:

For Beauchamp and Childress¹, the autonomous individual is one who "acts freely by a self-chosen plan". For its part, the American College of Physicians defined Informed Consent (IC) as "the explanation to an attentive and mentally competent patient of the nature of his disease, as well as the balance of the effects of the disease and the risk of the recommended diagnostic and therapeutic procedures, and then requesting his approval to undergo such procedures". The same instance adds: "The presentation of information should be understandable and unbiased (...), the patient's collaboration should be obtained without coercion and (...) the physician should not take advantage of his potential psychological dominance over the patient"³.