Mission Statement

The Society has been established to foster an international dialogue on the values guiding the practice of oral health care. This dialogue is intended to be multidisciplinary, involving the disciplines of dentistry and auxiliary oral health sciences on the one hand, and those of ethics and law on the other, as well as related disciplines such as philosophy, the humanities and the social sciences. The Society is open to all interested in partaking in this dialogue.


Specific Objectives

• To foster exchange of ideas, experiences and knowledge in the fields of dental ethics, dental law and related disciplines.
• To advance understanding and consideration of the values, patient rights and professional duties that guide the clinical practice of dentistry and oral health care.
• To advance the level of academic education in the aforementioned disciplines.
• To promote research and other scholarly activities, thereby increasing the available resources in the aforementioned disciplines.
• To promote the development of public policies that are respectful of the rights of patients and research subjects as well as the professional character of the oral health care disciplines.

Functions

The Society strives to realize the aforementioned objectives through a variety of activities. Such activities may include:

• A bi-annual International Congress on Dental Law and Ethics
• (Co-)sponsorship of national and local conferences and meetings
• An informative web page
• Publication of an on-line bulletin
• Editorship of a scientific journal
• Publication and distribution of proceedings of conferences and other meetings
• Publication and distribution of minutes among the membership of all business meetings of the Society
• Installation of working groups and development and distribution of "white papers"
• Development and maintenance of close contacts with other (inter)national and local organizations