Diversity, Equity & Inclusion
An Ethical Imperative for the Dental Profession Nanette R. Elster, JD, MPH, FACD Editor, eJACD
The ethical principle of justice which encompasses social justice, distributive justice, and restorative justice is a guidepost for many healthcare professions, including dentistry. In fact, the American Dental Association Principles of Ethics & Code of Professional Responsibility not only imposes a duty upon dentists to “treat people fairly . . .” but also urges dentists to “actively seek allies throughout society on specific activities that will help improve access for all.” Complimentary to that, the American College of Dentists adopts Justice as one of its core values stating that: “Issues of fairness are pervasive in dental practice and range from elemental procedural issues such as who shall receive treatment first, to complex questions of who shall receive treatment at all. The just dentist must be aware of these complexities when balancing the distribution of benefits and burdens in practice.”2 Dental professionals have a clear ethical imperative and professional responsibility to strive for diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) not only with patients, but with peers, students and the profession as a whole. The breadth and depth of the topic are so vast that the next two
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issues of the eJACD will address the role of dentists and organized dentistry in working toward greater diversity, equity and inclusion. This will not, however, mark the end of the eJACD’s coverage and indepth exploration of the issues as we will continue to feature articles focused on DEI in upcoming issues as well. Dr. Carlos Smith, a fellow of the American College of Dentists brings his wealth of knowledge and expertise as the Director of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion and Director of Ethics Curriculum at Virginia Commonwealth University, School of Dentistry as the guest editor of the next two issues of the eJACD. He opens with his powerful editorial, A Clarion Call – A Professionalism Ethic for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. The pieces that follow range from challenges facing women in the profession (The Elephant in the Room: Combating Sexism – The Need for Real Inclusion in Dental Education by Sophia Saeed and President Juliann S. Bluitt-Foster – A Champion for Equity and Inclusion by Theresa Gonzales), to the challenges of educating dental students about patients who may have a different lived experience from their own (Incorporating Race
into Medical Education by Keisha Ray). Additionally, Ethan Pansick shares his perspective on how the profession can continue to be more inclusive of the LGBTQ community in his piece, Inclusion for ALL – LGBTQ+ Bettering the Profession and Patient Experiences. Building on the concept of belonging, Sonya G. Smith, Kelli R. Johnson, Caroline Davis, and Pamela B. Banks, offer their perspective in their piece Wired to Connect: Belonging as a Pathway to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. To round out this first issue devoted to DEI, Brian Shue’s insightful commentary, The Dis Ease of Microaggressions is reprinted with permission from the California Dental Association and Vishruti Patel’s Ethical Moment: Facts and Alternative Facts: Ethically Responding to Offensive Comments by Patients is reprinted with permission from the Journal of the American Dental Association. In keeping with the mission of the ACD, “to advance excellence, ethics, professionalism, and leadership in dentistry. . .” the hope is that the articles presented in this issue, as well as the next, will spark ongoing dialogue that will lead not only to personal reflection but reflection and dialogue as a profession.
2021 Volume 88, Number 2
