Is it in the patient’s best interests?

Dental treatment has moved forward and continues to do so – from not just the relief of pain and repair or extraction of teeth, but to a range of procedures that are not only clinical but also aesthetic. Patients generally also feel more involved in their treatment and treatment choices. Whilst this involvement is very much an advantage in making appropriate decisions, it can sometimes also result in unreasonable requests to look younger or ‘better’. Patients may also be assertive about wanting specific treatments, such as an extraction, and that this is ‘their’ choice. There can be a danger of regarding dentistry as a ‘commodity’ with the same attitudes and expectations as if buying an item in a shop.