A EVOLUÇÃO DO CÓDIGO DE ÉTICA ODONTOLÓGICA BRASILEIRO

The Brazilian Code of Dental Ethics (CEO) was established in 1957 to regulate the practice of Dentistry and professional ethics. Since then, seven versions of the CEO have been published in attempt to keep up with the needs of the profession and evolvement of Brazilian society. However, in times of breaking ethical paradigms, it is necessary to recover the origin of the behavioral philosophy that governs the profession. This work aimed to analyze old versions of the CEO, comparing them with the current edition, evaluating the existing articles, changes and additions. The comparison of its versions allowed a better perception of the changes in the regulation of the dental profession over the decades and its motives. The evaluation of each article aimed to follow text changes, inclusions and exclusions in each version of the CEO, data that were analyzed qualitatively. Major changes were noticed regarding publicity, advertising, professional charges management and the penalties and their applications over time, which leads to the reflection that the relationship with the patient, the autonomy of the professional and his obligations in the field of Dentistry are issues that are constantly evolving and that need updating due to the complexity of their theme.