My way or the highway: do dental patients really have autonomy?

Ethical dilemmas arise when it is not possible to simultaneously optimize conflicting values, each of which independently is worthy. This paper analyzes three cases where patients' autonomy is in conflict with dentists' professional judgments about their own practice patterns and what is in the best interests of patients' oral health. The hierarchy of values proposed by Ozar and Sokol is a valuable aid in addressing such dilemmas, but the dentist must still engage in a detailed analysis of the situation.