Smile, please

When Padmini, 21, walked into Dr Gaganpreet Kapoor’s clinic in Delhi along with her mother, she was afraid to smile because she had wide gaps between her (also discoloured) teeth.

Suffering from fluorosis, a disease caused by excess fluoride levels in water, common in some parts of Rajasthan, her home state, Padmini was given porcelain laminates to cover the gaps and take care of the discolouration. Today, this young lady can flash a brilliant smile without a care in the world.

Welcome to the world of dentistry. “Aesthetic dentistry, popular in the West, is all about ‘smile designing’, enhancing people’s looks by improving upon the colour and shape of their teeth and the shape of their gums,” says Dr Kapoor, consultant dental surgeon and cosmetic dentist, BLK Memorial Hospital, New Delhi.

Kapoor, who had always wanted to be a doctor, says her independent spirit prompted her to choose dentistry. “You can practise independently — dentists  start their own clinics much quicker than those in other branches of medicine,” she says. In 2004, after graduation, Kapoor joined a TPA (third-party administrator) in the insurance sector as a medical officer. But as her heart was in treating patients, she took up dental practice.

Apart from aesthetic or cosmetic dentistry there are other specialities, too. Prosthodontics deals with the replacement of missing or damaged teeth; periodontics deals with diseases of tooth-supporting tissues and the gum tissue; pedodontics is related to dental problems of children.

With increasing awareness of oral health needs, the demand for good dentists is also increasing, says Dr Sanghamitra Yadav, chairperson, community dental health (CDH), Indian Dental Association (IDA), north Delhi branch.

As with most medical disciplines, the concentration of dentists is skewed in favour of urban areas, says Dr Debipada Kabi, head of the department, dental surgery, Vardhman Mahavir Medical College and Safdarjang Hospital, New Delhi. “The infrastructure in the cities is adequate but those in the rural areas need improvement. Moreover, there is lack of awareness about oral health and its importance in the rural areas,” he says. Retired Major General (Dr) PN Awasthi, secretary, Dental Council of India, agrees. “There are 88,000 registered dentists in India. But there is no mechanism to correlate the demand and supply ratio. As a result, there is concentration (of dentists) in the urban areas and lack of doctors in rural areas,” he points out.

The world definitely needs to wake up to the fact that oral health is directly related to the general health of a person. “It is established that pregnant women suffering from gum diseases have more chances of delivering pre-term babies with low birth weight,” says Dr Kabi.

Cardiac diseases, hypertension, diabetes, respiratory problems etc are affected by oral health as well. “Patients suffering from systemic diseases should be provided good oral health treatment to bring down morbidity and mortality rates,” says Dr Kabi.

What quality of dental care do we get in India? “Techno- logically and methodologi- cally, we are at par with the best in the world,” says Dr Vishal Gupta, consultant orthodontist and implanto- logist. Dr Kabi, however, disagrees, saying some catching up needs to be done before India can rival the best in the world. “In developed nations, only a prosthodontist is allowed to offer crown and bridge treatment. In India, even a general dentist can do it,” he says.

Also, the quality of education that one gets in most private dental colleges is poor, says Dr Kabi. Dr Awasthi agrees: “What is required is monitoring of the existing dental colleges.” The ministry of health, the Planning Commission and the state governments should also monitor the standards of new colleges, to ensure quality output, he says.

Author: Pranab Ghosh

Date: 30th Dec., 2009

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