An 11-year-old bilingual patient (English/Spanish) presents with her Spanish-only-speaking mother. Orthodontic treatment needed. Legal and ethical obligation of the dentist?

Correct answer: B. Hire a certified medical interpreter for the mother

• A. Using a minor child to translate complex medical/treatment information for informed consent purposes is inappropriate and risks miscommunication and ethical/legal issues.
• B. Correct. The dentist's legal and ethical obligation is to provide a certified medical/dental interpreter to ensure the mother (who must provide informed consent) fully understands the proposed treatment.
• C. While a qualified bilingual staff member might be acceptable in some contexts if appropriately trained/certified, the best practice and most defensible answer is hiring a certified interpreter, particularly given the formal consent process involved.
• D. Providing consent forms only in English does not ensure the Spanish-speaking mother understands the content, failing informed consent requirements.