Abstract
Background. Children may be accompanied by various people when attending for dental treatment. Before treatment is started, there is a legal requirement that the operator obtain informed consent for the proposed procedure. In the case of minors, the person authorized to give consent (parental responsibility) is usually a parent. Aim. To ascertain if accompanying persons of children attending the Department of Paediatric Dentistry at the Eastman Dental Hospital, London were empowered to give consent for the child's dental treatment. Design. A total of 250 accompanying persons of children attending were selected, over a 6-month period. A questionnaire was used to establish whether the accompanying person(s) were authorized to give consent. Result. The study showed that 12% of accompanying persons had no legal authority to give consent for the child's dental treatment. Conclusion. Clinicians need to be aware of the status of persons accompanying children to ensure valid consent is obtained
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 200 - 204 |
| Number of pages | 5 |
| Journal | International Journal of Paediatric Dentistry |
| Volume | 17 |
| Issue number | 3 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - May 2007 |