Dr Javaid Ahmed
Projected population of J&K in 2021 is estimated to be around one crore and fifty lakh and the total strength of dental surgeons in the Government sector is just 540. Roughly each dental surgeon caters to the needs of around 28000 people.
It has been researched that at a particular time, about 5% people need dental treatments at various levels from sensitivity to major procedures. It means around 1400 people among 28 thousand will need treatment at a time and a single dental surgeon can’t handle such patient influx
Where do these patients go?
Well, keeping in view our social norms, self-prescription is most commonly route to follow, people with dental pain go to medical shop for pain killers, antibiotics, vitamins, and these quacks, in fact prescribe even more in extras. Other few go to dental quacks and they also do the same.
People need to understand the importance of health and how the drugs impact their body. Unnecessary prescriptions land them into myriad of health issues, a simple pain killer can damage their kidneys, can harm their stomach, liver etc. Same way, antibiotics are the most abused drugs. Even for minor dental ailments, antibiotics are consumed, which not only develop multi-drug resistance, but also increases out of pocket expenditure.
Worst of all, quacks are giving number of corticosteroids to patients which have enormously resulted in kidney failures, debilitated immune mechanism and subsequently due to weakened immune system, a body can invite minor infections that can turn into major tragedies.
Prohibiting dental quacks
People, who are not authorised to treat, manage the patients are known as quacks. Even the Indian Dental Council Act-1948 prohibits any unauthorised practice. Even dental technicians come under non operatory personnel, nowhere in their curriculum is written that they can do treatments, nor any Dental College allow them even in their training. However they are integral to medical and dental teamwork, and have an important role to play.
But a quacks in literal sense mean complete informal entities that have learnt just few procedures from doctors by observation or after getting bogus certificates through fraudulent means for practice. Mostly sweepers at Dental clinics, receptionists, clinic boy etc. are among these quacks who go to rural areas and establish dental clinic cum experimental labs.
Lack of basic medical science knowledge, inadequate sterilization and lack of basic understanding of human anatomy, physiology these quacks become major threat to people. Out breaks of hepatitis B, C and other blood borne diseases are few major disasters that can happen through these clinics.
Why no regulation?
There are no regulations on such people in J&K, while as other states such as Maharashtra, Delhi, Haryana, Kerala have already banned them. Government must understand that healthcare is very delicate thing to deal with, to understand the body functions, it take years, blood and sweat. The way medical realm is regulated, we expect same in the dental field. Medical assistants can’t do surgeries, cannot prescribe medicine, same thing applies to dental technicians, but hierarchy of work and assortment of status role are not well developed in dentistry.
Possible solution
In the last 13 years, Government has failed in creating even a single post for Dental surgeons. Every year around 400 Dental graduates are added to the pool and approximately 7000 to 8000 are unemployed currently. PSC, CHC, Sub-District and District Hospitals are facing the crisis of dental mismanagement; people prefer to go Dental quacks for treatment due to unavailability of dental doctors. Government needs to create PSC posts, NHM, Dental school health programs, so that an energetic, viable demographic dividend be protected and preserved.
(The author is a Dental Surgeon)
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