In a major decision to check the mushrooming of dental colleges and institutes across the country, the Dental Council of India (DCI) has issued directives that study of dental colleges can be started or conducted only in the existing medical colleges. So far dental colleges had no associations with the medical colleges and thus there was rampant misuse of the profession catering to the oral care.
In another initiative, where the medical colleges have failed in this perspective, DCI has directed the dental colleges to start satellite centres across the country. DCI President Dr Dibyendu Mazumder said that the council has asked all dental colleges to open at least two satellite centres which will operate in rural areas in the radius of the dental colleges.
“The centres are mobile dental clinics which are being opened with an objective to promote awareness and good oral hygiene among rural population as teeth and gum problems are serious issues in these areas,” Mazumder said. DCI is enacted through an Act of Parliament and tasked with the regulation of the dental profession and education in India. There 305 dental colleges and 290 medical colleges in India. Mazumder who has taken several initiatives to widen the scope of dental sciences, said that the existing healthcare system is non-existent in rural areas. “As per practise, rural service hasn’t been the subject of interest for dental or medical graduates. Everyone wants to get a job in urban areas. Only the Government can take steps to make mandatory for the pass outs either from a Government or private medical or dental colleges and save the rural health which has ever remained ignored. We’ve appealed to the new Government to work on this issue and the health Minister was very positive,” he said.
Present on the occasion was Dr Deepak Kumar Sharma, organising secretary of the 29th Indian Association of Conservative Dentistry and Endodontics and 22nd Indian Endodontic Society National Conference in Jaipur December this year. Sharma mentioned that due to the diligence of Dr Mazumder, DCI has launched a people friendly website.