The standard of care: an ethical responsibility of public health dentistry.

Wide variation in the diagnosis and treatment of dental problems is indicative of the lack of a standard of care to guide the practitioner and to protect the public. Examples of questionable dental practices are described to illustrate how the public may be overtreated, overcharged, and put at risk of iatrogenic injury, practices that are no longer valid in light of current knowledge of dental diseases and their treatment. Public health dentistry traditionally concerns itself with community preventive, educational, and curative programs. It also has the ethical responsibility--the moral duty and obligation--to recognize and contend with paternalistic professional behavior that, intentionally or otherwise, violates the public trust, and to promote systems that will improve access, quality, and financing of dentistry for everyone.