Respecting patient autonomy

What happens when your patient swallows a piece of wire or small nail or something else during an orthodontic procedure? In most cases, patients (or their parents) are advised that it will be eliminated from the system in 3 days without any intervention. We might offer x-rays, although that introduces an unnecessary radiation exposure for the patient. In most cases, the foreign body passes as predicted and there are no complications. What should we tell our patients so that they can make an informed choice, since there is no guarantee that everything will work out as expected and no problems will arise? The practitioner's responsibility with regard to informed consent and patient autonomy was considered in a specific case.

Source: Dental Abstracts - May 1, 2018 Category: Dentistry Tags: Legal Considerations Source Type: research