Veracity and Informed Consent Veracity is the ethical principle of honesty which provides meaningful communication in any moral relationship between two or more people. Health care providers have both a moral and legal obligation to make it possible for clients to decide important matters that affect their health. Based upon respect for clients and regard for their right to control their own care, dental hygienists must respect the right of choice held by clients. The competent client's consent is an essential precondition to the provision of oral health care. Dental hygienists have a responsibility to inform clients of the dental hygiene care available to them, and to obtain informed consent from the client prior to rendering any treatment.
Informed consent is the process by which a client becomes an active participant in care.
All clients should be aided in becoming active participants in their care to the maximum extent that circumstances permit. Children who may be legally incompetent to consent should still be informed in accordance with the child's state of development and capacity to understand and involved in their oral health care. Force, coercion or manipulative tactics must not be employed in the obtaining of consent. It is unethical for dental hygienists to advocate a particular treatment plan in the absence of the presentation of alternative treatment plans. The client must be allowed to make an informed choice between treatment plan options as well as the option of no treatment.