Looking Gift-horses in the Mouth: Gift-giving, Incentives and Conflict of Interest in the Dental Profession

Within medicine, there has been a protracted conversation relating to the appropriateness of accepting gifts and incentives from industry, professional colleagues and from patients. The general principle and anxiety in this debate relates to answering the question of whether accepting gifts or incentives compromises a health professional's duty to provide quality care. Within the dental profession, there is noticeably less discussion as to the effects of gifts and incentives upon the practice of dentistry. Given that dentistry is, like medicine, part of health care this status quo is not one that should persist. The authors hope that this article will stimulate discussion around dentistry's relationship with those who might seek to make commercial benefit out of our practice and how dental professionals should respond to patients bearing gifts - letters to the editor are explicitly invited; personal communication to the authors to compile a follow-up publication is welcome.