"The often forgotten but important aspect of privileged information is that the privilege belongs to the patient..."

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23115156

J Am Dent Assoc. 2012 Nov;143(11):1250-2.

If I Learn the Identity of a Patient's New Dentist, Should I Inform the Dentist of the Patient's Health History, Given That the Patient Has Indicated He Will Not Share This Information in Full?

Chinoy WI.

Source

Walter I. Chinoy, DMD, practices general dentistry in Scotch Plains, N.J., and is a member of the American Dental Association Council on Ethics, Bylaws and Judicial Affairs.

"Confidentiality refers to maintaining the privacy of personal, identifiable information that might be shared in a professional relationship, such as that between a dentist and patient. Privilege, by comparison, is a duty owed to protect information obtained by a professional in a relationship in which there is an expectation that the information shared will be kept in confidence. Privilege involves the right of the client or patient to waive that right. We typically think of a health care professional–patient privilege, a lawyer-client privilege or a clergyperson-parishioner privilege. The overriding objective of these privileges is to protect certain information, whether it is personal, embarrassing, self-incriminating or health related, so that the patient can place his or her trust in the professional and receive the best possible service or treatment. This is a way to preserve the openness and trust in the provider-patient relationship.

The often forgotten but important aspect of privileged information is that the privilege belongs to the patient or client, not to the professional. Usually, exceptions exist that allow the professional to disregard the privilege and reveal or release the information if the benefit to society supersedes the requirement to keep it confidential."