High hopes from Lt. Governor

Dr. Gautam Sharma
Unemployed dental surgeons in Jammu and Kashmir have high hopes from Lt. Governor, Manoj Sinha. The last recruitment of dental surgeons was done in the year 2008-09, while only 18 posts of the reserved category (under 2nd special drive) were advertised in 2012. During the period many dentists have crossed the age limit to secure a government job in J&K. Candidates in their late twenties in 2008 are now overage as the maximum age limit prescribed by Jammu & Kashmir Public Service Commission (JKPSC) is 37 years.
After witnessing the working and activism of the new Lt.Governor of J&K as he has been able to resolve and dispose-off various long pending grievances of the general public, the dentists are hopeful that he will definitely give a patient view to the problems of dental surgeons as well as posts of dental surgeons will be advertised and age limit relaxed so that the unemployed dentists who are waiting for more than 12 years get a chance to serve J&K Government.
Various Dental Associ-ations of J&K had earlier met the who’s who in the Government regarding the advertisement of dental surgeons’ posts but there was no outcome and it was a futile exercise running from pillar to post for the Government jobs. The officials of Health Department say that the file is referred to the Finance Department, while the Finance Department sends back the file with queries to the Health Department, so the file is shuttling between Health and Finance Departments of J&K Government since many years.
During the ongoing corona pandemic, many dental surgeons who are working in the Government set-up were made nodal officers for supervising and screen the patients affected with the deadly virus. These dentists are working day and night to curb the spread of the Covid-19. Similarly, the unemployed dentists if given a chance to serve the people of J&K can facilitate the Government in controlling the spread of the pandemic.
Unemployed dental surgeons need an opportunity to be absorbed in the Government job for which they are waiting since many years. They will serve the general public in the far-flung areas of J&K who are devoid of basic oral health treatment procedures. The oral disease load is too high in villages and tough-to-reach regions of our Union Territory.
Dental surgeons are passing through very tough stage as many dentists have opened private dental clinics to earn their livelihood in the absence of Government jobs, but the corona pandemic has dashed their hopes. Most dentists have taken a huge amount of loan to open private practice as the dental chair, equipments and material are too expensive. During corona pandemic the clinics remained closed for more than 5 months and even after opening of the clinics, the patients are not turning up as they afraid to contract the virus from the clinic. The bank interest on the loan amount grew too much but the earning of the dentists has dipped to all time low. Salaries of staff of private clinic and procurement of new equipment to stop the spread of corona virus became unmanageable. No financial help in any shape was received from the Government for these corona warriors who were only dependent on their private practice. Working in the oral cavity of a patient is life-threatening for a dentist if patient is a carrier of Corona virus.
Dentists of J&K are struggling with one more issue since many years and resolution to which has not been achieved till date. This menace is dental quacks. Quack is an untrained person who pretends to be a doctor and dispenses medical and dental advice along with treatment for which he is not authorised. When most of the dental clinics run by qualified dentists were temporarily closed due to pandemic, there were reports that patients have started visiting the quacks who were operating illegally and as such are posing threat to health of patients. They use unhygienic and unsterilized instruments for the patients and were not following any kind of disinfection protocols. These quacks have no provision of autoclaving the instruments in their illegal clinics and therefore fatal infections like Corona virus, HIV, hepatitis B etc, from blood and saliva can transmit to other patients. To save a little amount of money, patients visit a quack as their fee is lower than a qualified dentist. But the consequence of visiting a quack for treatment can be dangerous and life-threatening.
Dentists were too optimistic that the dental quackery will end once the J&K Dental Council (JKDC) elections were held and members elected in 2017. Although JKDC was able to start online registration of dental surgeons which was a welcome step but it failed miserably to check the menace of quackery. Quacks are present in the nook and corner of J&K and JKDC is watching like a toothless body. They shall seal the illegal clinics run by quacks and if there is some legal issue, the JKDC can approach the court of law and take the plea that treatment by quacks is illegal and a grave threat to the health of the general public. In India, under Chapter V, Section 49 of the Dentist Act of 1948 requires dentists, dental mechanics, and dental hygienists to be licensed. These dental quacks on the streets can be penalized under The Dentist Act leading to imprisonment and penalty but strict laws need to be reinforced and implemented.
The unemployed dental surgeons hope that the Lt.Governor shall personally look into these problems and direct the concerned departments to advertise the posts of dental surgeons in the State Government with age relaxation and issue strict instructions to J&K Dental Council as well as all the district administrations to seal the clinics run by dental quacks as these are grave threat to the life of general public.
(The author is former president of Indian Dental Association (IDA) Jammu.)
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