If you follow dental news or you happen to be interested in dentistry in India you may have come across articles on the subject of the number of dentists in India. The Dental Council of India has recently appealed to ministers to prevent the opening of new dental colleges in some states. The number of graduates is increasing year on year and more and more graduate dentists are struggling to find a job.
According to the World Health Organisation, the recommended ratio of dentists to patients should be 1:7500, but in some areas of India, including Maharashtra, the ration has dropped to 1:5000 and there are not enough jobs to go round for newly qualified dentists. In the state alone, there are 35 dental collages, producing 3000 new dentists every year.
A graduate dentist who qualified recently said that a decade ago there was a huge amount of prestige attached to being a dentist, but there are now so many dentists and clinics on every corner that there is little job security. He has decided to take a different career path and has since trained in hospital management. There have also been many stories of graduate dentists taking up part-time and short contract jobs to earn money because they cannot find a job in dentistry.
Standards of oral health in India
Standards of oral health are improving in India thanks to better access to dental services and increased awareness of oral health issues and oral hygiene; however, there is still a long way to go. Oral health problems are very common and in more remote areas, access to dental care remains an issue and awareness of oral health issues is still low.
According to a survey carried out by IMRB in 2010, almost half of people do not own a toothbrush and only 28 per cent of those surveyed said that they brushed their teeth twice a day. The survey also revealed that 34 per cent of people believed that brushing their teeth once a day was sufficient for good oral health and 56 per cent of people thought that it was fine to never change your toothbrush. 65 per cent of people also believed that their diet had no impact on their oral health.
Dental facilities in India
India, like many countries, is advancing all the time and the range of treatments on offer to patients is increasing every year. There are many new clinics, many of which boast state of the art facilities and offer the latest innovations in the dental world and dental tourism has become an increasingly valuable industry. You can even find the latest invisible braces.
Dental tourism involves people travelling overseas for treatment. India is a popular option for tourists from Australia and New Zealand, the Middle East and Europe because it has some excellent clinics and the prices are considerably lower than those quoted in other countries. The main cities for dental tourism include Mumbai and Delhi where people can look to pick up all manner of treatments, from fillings and implants to braces such as the Inman Aligner.
