Resumo

FREITAS, Amanda Beatriz Dahdah Aniceto de et al. The use of extracted teeth in studies published in free online Brazilian journals: a study of bioethics. Arq. Odontol. [online]. 2010, vol.46, n.3, pp. 136-143. ISSN 1516-0939.

The use of human teeth in dentistry research should be analyzed through the prism of bioethics. This study analyzed the use of human and non-human extracted teeth in dental research published since 1996 in free online Brazilian journals. The eligible sample was formed by the list of 152 Dentistry journals, entitled "B National" (2007- Qualis CAPES). Inclusion criteria were: availability of electronic webpage, online publication in the Portuguese language, and free access to articles. From the abstracts, the articles that used teeth in its methodology were identified. By reading the full articles, the following information was collected: submission of the project to a research ethics committee, its log number, tooth donor, and tooth origin. Fourteen journals published articles that used extracted teeth, totaling 254 articles, including 8,921 human teeth and 2,920 non-human teeth. Among the 49 studies performed with non-human teeth, only three had obtained approval from a research ethics committee, and only two revealed the origin of the teeth. Among the 205 studies that involved human teeth, only 44 (21.7%) reported approval from a research ethics committee, and 59 (28.8%) revealed the origin of the teeth. Although a significant portion of the articles report the use of extracted teeth, most did not cite their sources, approval by an Ethics Committee, or patient consent. Methodological quality and ethics should guide research aimed at excellence in an attempt to contribute to the growth of reliable Brazilian Dentistry journals.

Palavras-chave : Bioethics; Dental research; Tooth; Electronic publishing.