Bioethics and Professional Ethics in Contemporary Dentistry: Challenges between Academic Training and Clinical Practice

Abstract

This study analyzes the interface between bioethics and professional ethics in contemporary dentistry, investigating the challenges surrounding the transition from academic training to clinical practice. Through a narrative literature review, the work identifies the normative and educational gaps governing professional exercise. The results indicate that the technical teaching model, associated with the increasing commercialization of the sector, has neglected the biopsychosocial view, favoring a productivist paradigm that drives invasive and unnecessary aesthetic interventions. In contrast, the analysis points out that tools such as telehealth and Integrative and Complementary Practices (PICS) emerge as new horizons for patient reception and humanized care. It is concluded that the ethical and legal security of the dental surgeon transcends strict compliance with documentary protocols, requiring the overcoming of the mechanistic paradigm in favor of a "relational dentistry". Such evolution depends on prioritizing biological preservation and recognizing the patient as an integral being, restoring the social and humanitarian function of the profession above purely mercantile interests.