• The Journal of the Korean dental association
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• v.57 no.3
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• pp.124-148
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• 2019

Recently, there has been an increasing interest in the regulation of medical & dental profession in South Korea due to various medical scandals & exacerbated commercialism. Consequently, the voice asking for strengthening the license management of medical & dental profession is rising. However, there is an absolutely lacking discussion on self-regulation of the Korean dentist community. This study investigated International Society of Dental Regulators and dental regulatory authorities in the U.K., Ontario in Canada, California in the U.S. and Australia. In addition, this study examined what situations Japan was in, which was similar to Korea in terms of systems. In the U.K., the U.S., Canada and Australia, there are independent dental regulatory authorities, which place emphasis on lay personnel participation. In addition, the organizations prepared very specific and detailed ethics, standards, and punishment guidelines to be followed by professionals. And, various efforts are being made to secure transparency and trust. As a result of this study, self-regulation in Korea seems to require an open approach that embraces civil society, and it is considered that dentist should lead social discussion more positively.