Informed consent in dental practice: experiences of Dutch patients

AIM: To assess experiences of the Dutch population concerning the implementation of some of their rights by dentists. METHOD: A postal questionnaire. PARTICIPANTS: All 1,616 participants of the 'Consumer Panel Health Care' in the Netherlands. RESULTS: 78.8% of the subjects responded. Patients were satisfied with the general information they received from their dentist. Their experiences of receiving information about specific legislation-related issues, however, were less positive. A considerable percentage of patients indicate that their dentist did not always inform them about risks or alternative treatment options. CONCLUSION: The autonomy of patients, which is the key principle underlying the 1995 Medical Treatment Contract Act, can seriously be undermined without making available this kind of information.