Abstract
Dental ethics are assumed to be neutral in their intent. With a social contract grounded in liberalism and assumptions centering whiteness, the resulting ethics reinforce hierarchy, otherness, and inequities. Because concepts and practices are rarely neutral, dental ethics is embedded with biases, which results in it falling short of the demands of the 21st century and exacerbating health inequities rather than supporting efforts for health justice. This manuscript invites the reader to reflect critically and re-imagine dental ethics using anti-oppressive and interdisciplinary praxis. For the improvement of public health, the narrowing of inequities, and a functioning oral health system, the discipline needs a critical refresh. To support movement toward a new ethics, this manuscript proposes the use of the Secundian Framework, an ethic that is anti-oppressive, person and community-centered, and advances oral health as a human right outside of liberalism. This kind of inquiry is both a thought experiment and a call to action, with the important caveat that the focus here is on the discipline, not on individual ethicists or dental ethics practitioners.
Recommended Citation
Fleming, Eleanor PhD, DDS, MPH, FICD, FACD
(2026)
"Unpacking and Re-imagining Dental Ethics with Anti-Oppressive and Interdisciplinary Praxis,"
Journal of the American College of Dentists: Vol. 92:
No.
2, Article 15.
Available at:
https://commons.ada.org/jacd/vol92/iss2/15
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