Ethics on the disclosure of dental services through advertising in inner city of Bahia

Abstract

Marketing is a prominent commercial strategy widely used in dentistry, within its diverse modalities, it is a powerful tool, contrary to which is often portrayed, isn’t just about selling, buying or marketing. The aim of this paper is investigating the ethical violations viewed on dental services advertisements in the city of Santo Antônio de Jesus - Bahia in accordance with the dental ethics and code of conduct (CFO- 118/2012). The data has been collected as from a careful analysis of advertising boards, flyers and outdoors at dental offices (individuals and/or legal entities). These advertisements were documented through photographs collected by a single examiner. The mandatory items have been considered professional registration, name of the professional and the representative name Dental Surgeon, while the optional items have been considered logo, phone, Email/website, address, activity areas, procedures and treatment techniques and the expression “general practitioner”, in relation to infractions, items such as discount card, payment method and patient enticement have been evaluated. It has been found only 15% of the advertisements showed all mandatory items, the most common item was the Logo (48.2%), just a single clinic had some type of item that contained ethical violations advertising. The present article determine that the majority of advertisements carried out by dental clinics in the city of Santo Antônio de Jesus haven´t been followed all regulations, disobeying the basic rules proposals.