Self-effacement in dental practice.

Self-effacement is a difficult challenge for some providers. When their professional ehtics and personal morals conflict, health care providers may feel trapped in a dilemma that has no acceptable resolution. In some instances, legal requirements bolster the ethical requirement to be self-effacing. For example, according to the ADA Code, "dentists shall not refuse to accept patients...or deny dental service to patients because of the patient's race, creed, color, sex, or national." Discriminating against patients because of these attributes is unethical and violates civil rights. Providers are held to the highest standards of ethics and should tolerate differences in values. Patients who are morally reprehensible to dentists must be treated with the same degree of care and compassion as other patients receive.