Barely 7% of Indians take help of dentists

Bhubaneswar: Barely six to seven per cent of India’s population seek the help of a dentist when faced with any dental problem, Dr. Ashok Dhable, Secretary General of the Indian Dental Association (IDA), said.

Pointing out that the percentage of people seeking help for dental issues was abysmally low, Dr. Dhable said it needed to be improved to at least 15 per cent.

Dr. Dhable, who was speaking at the inaugural program of the 39^th state conference of the IDA at Siksha ‘O’ Anusandhan (SOA) here on Friday, said children should be taught the need for proper dental care at an early age. Therefore, there is the need for a national school oral health program, he said.

Dr. Dibyendu Mazumdar, President of Dental Council of India (DCI), who was the chief guest at the event, said there were 370 dental colleges in India which had more than three lakh dental surgeons.

He stressed on the need for a national task force for proper implementation of the dental curriculum. He congratulated SOA for the fine performance of the Institute of Dental Sciences (IDS), the university’s faculty of dental sciences, as it had been ranked 9^th in the country by the National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF).

The program was presided over by SOA Vice-Chancellor Prof. Pradipta Kumar Nanda who outlined the various research work being undertaken by the university.

The gathering was also addressed by Prof. Neeta Mohanty, Dean of IDS and President of IDA Kalinga, Dr. Michael John, President of IDA Odisha, Dr. Sanjeeb Kumar Pradhan, Secretary of IDA Kalinga and Dr. Subash Chandra Nayak, Secretary of IDA Odisha. Dr. Abhilash Mohapatra, Organising Chairman and Dr. Anurag Satpathy, Scientific Chairman for the program also spoke.

Dr. P.K.Nanda was presented the Lifetime Achievement Award on the occasion while Dr. Deepak Kumar Majhi was chosen as the best Secrertary of local branch. Dr. Ipsita Mohanty, Organising Secretary of the event, proposed the vote of thanks.