Awareness and practice of Revised Code of Dental Ethics and Consumer Protection Act among dental practitioners in Andhra Pradesh: A cross sectional study

Background: Given the imperative for dental practitioners to be familiar with the existing ethical principles and laws governing their practice, this study aimed to evaluate awareness and practice of the dentists (code of ethics) regulations 2014 and consumer protection act 2019 among dental practitioners in Andhra Pradesh state, India. Methods: A cross sectional study was conducted among 384 dental practitioners in Andhra Pradesh state, India. A questionnaire consisting of 25 items was used to assess awareness and practice of the dentists (code of ethics) regulations and consumer protection act. The data collected were analysed using IBM SPSS Statistics for Windows, Version 25.0. Armonk, NY: IBM Corp. Results: Only 53(13.8%) dental practitioners in the study were aware that the dentists (code of ethics) regulations had been revised in 2014. About 190 (49.5%) practitioners were aware of the precise period for mandatory preservation of patient records. Most dental practitioners (278, 72.4%) accepted commissions in the form of gifts or cash from laboratories, radiologists, or pharmacists and 306 (79.7%) dental practitioners used unregistered dental lab technicians as employees in their practice. Furthermore, 297 (77.3%) practitioners were found to provide or sell drugs to patients in their clinic/office. The new regulations under consumer protection act 2019 were unknown to 194 (50.5%) dental practitioners. Conclusions: The present study indicates that the awareness of dental practitioners towards the dentists (code of ethics) regulations 2014 and consumer protection act 2019 is inadequate. It highlights the need for training programmes and curriculum changes with a focus on ethical and legal issues in clinical dental practice.