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HEALTH |
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Shortage of dental
technicians
From Our CorrespondentLUDHIANA,
July 1 — Dentistry has come a long way from the time when it just meant pulling out damaged and loose teeth. It has become an advanced and highly sophisticated speciality, with new techniques, equipment and material available with each passing day. It ensures not only the function, but also the beauty of teeth and gums, making one smile beautiful and confident.Awareness of dental health among the general public is high, thereby the demand for high quality work has increased. This is the need of the hour too, so as to ensure good function and cosmetics. Dental practice involves not just the expertise and knowledge of the dentist, but also the support of qualified dental hygienist and dental technicians, who fabricate the various dental prosthesis like crowns and bridges. But sadly, that is not the case at present. There are more than 70,000 dentists in our country and about 4,000 dentists qualify every year. But the rate of growth of supporting staff, hygienists and technicians is negligible. “Although the facilities in our dental clinics are increasing, bridging the gap between services rendered and materials offered here and abroad, till date we have to rely on work of unqualified technicians, which is not top quality and lacks precision,” says Dr Vivek Saggar, who runs a dental centre in Ludhiana. He has been in practice for over eight years now. After introducing the first soft laser in dentistry in north India, he went to Germany for implant training in 1999 and popularised the technique in the region. Recently, he visited France at the invitation of UGIN Dentaire for training in metal ceramics and metal-free ceramics.
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