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Dentistry in a multicultural society: the impact of animal-based products on person-centred care

British Dental Journal volume 232, pages 269–272 (2022)Cite this article

Abstract

Cultural competence of healthcare professionals requires a combination of awareness, knowledge and skills to provide healthcare services to culturally and lingually diverse populations. The aim of this paper is to raise awareness regarding animal-based constituents in dental products which may not be acceptable to patients from different cultural, spiritual, or religious backgrounds. Animal-based products are used widely in medicine and dentistry. However, patients and sometimes even dental professionals may not be aware of this. This paper identifies some common products used in clinical dentistry which are derived from animal-based sources and discusses the implications of their use in a multicultural society.

Key points

  • Cultural competence needs to be reinforced in dental curricula to provide person-centred care to an increasingly diverse society in the UK.

  • Dental professionals should recognise patient choices regarding animal products based on their religious, spiritual, cultural and ethnic backgrounds. Patient choices must be respected and alternative products should be offered whenever appropriate.

  • The dental profession needs to work with the industry to enforce more transparent labelling of dental products and materials based on animal sources.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Qatar University, College of Dental Medicine, QU Health, Doha 2713, Qatar

    Kamran Ali

  2. Plymouth University, Faculty of Health, Plymouth, PL4 8AA, Devon, UK

    Pooja Gupta, Emma Turay, Lorna Burns & Zoe Brookes

  3. Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 7RU, UK

    Mahwish Raja

Authors
  1. Kamran Ali
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  2. Pooja Gupta
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  3. Emma Turay
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  4. Lorna Burns
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  5. Zoe Brookes
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  6. Mahwish Raja
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Contributions

Kamran Ali, corresponding author, was responsible for the drafting of the manuscript and editing. Pooja Gupta and Emma Turay contributed to the literature search. Lorna Burns contributed to developing the search strategy. Zoe Brookes contributed to the drafting of the methods and results sections. Mahwish Raja contributed to the drafting of the introduction and discussion sections of the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Kamran Ali.

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The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

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Ali, K., Gupta, P., Turay, E. et al. Dentistry in a multicultural society: the impact of animal-based products on person-centred care. Br Dent J 232, 269–272 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41415-022-3982-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41415-022-3982-7

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