President’s Corner

The idea to establish a society was the result of contacts during the International Congresses on Dental Law and Ethics. The first congress was held in Louvain, Belgium, organized by yours’ truly. The main topics of that congress (named First International Congress on Dental Law) were professional law (practice of dentistry and the dentist-patient relationship, confidentiality), legal aspects of forensic odontology, and liability. The second and the third congress (Copenhagen and London) expanded the topical reach of the congress to include ethical questions as well. Karsten Thuen, Jan Jakobsen, John Hunt and Peter Swiss were the driving forces behind these well-organized congresses. The number of participants grew from from 101 in Leuven to 127 in Copenhagen to 169 in London. The next congress will take place in Amsterdam in October, organized by Klaas-Jan Bakker and the Dutch Dental Society.

The possibility of establishing a society was already mentioned during the first congress, but it was only in 1999 that we decided that the time was ripe and IDEALS was founded. That society, with an International Board, shall organize congresses and meetings, give support to other organizations and take care of the contacts between the members and other related organizations. The society will be the forum where dentists, lawyers, philosophers, ethicists and other professionals can discuss common problems in the most open way. It took a long time to make statutes, but finally in December 2000 we were able to put the society on the rails.

All of us, who are working or interested in this field of dental law and ethics, are aware that a lot of topics are waiting to be discussed and we hope that our society may play an important role in these discussions. But congresses every two or three years are not enough. The contacts that are made at these congresses must be strengthened by an international society with working groups, a website and discussion forums in order to fill the gap between congresses. If we all are willing to participate in this, the future of the society looks bright. It will be a challenge for me to be the president of this society and I hope that all of you will support the society in its aims and projects.

Yvo Vermylen
Founding President
Boortmeerbeek, Belgium