Subject to the provisions of Article L. 1111-7 and for legitimate reasons which the dental surgeon assesses according to his conscience, a patient may be kept in ignorance of a serious diagnosis or prognosis. A fatal prognosis should only be revealed to the patient with the greatest circumspection, but the patient’s next of kin should generally be informed, unless the patient has previously forbidden this disclosure or designated the third party or parties to whom it should be made.