Ethical aspects of teeth obtained by odontology graduates

Abstract

The objective of this study was to evaluate the merits of the teeth used in an ethical and legal perspective for students of Dentistry, University of Southern Santa Catarina – Unisul. Two questionnaires were employed, one applied to the professors and another to the students with questions concerning the subject. The results showed that there is illegal trade of teeth among students of Dentistry from Unisul, because 11% of respondents affirmed they had bought teeth at some point in their academic life, in which the most mentioned provider was a college classmate. This work presented that around 688 teeth are used per semester divided into five pre-laboratory disciplines; among these, none reports formally legal and ethical implications of using human teeth.