Dr Navjot Singh Sasan
In Jammu- Dental Quackery is a big Problem going since decades. Although, mostly practiced in villages, the city of temples is
not less targeted by this road-side dentistry, at present. Many dental quacks are running their practice successfully compared to qualified dentists in several areas of jammu viz. Gumatt, BusStand and other areas.
These are usually incompetent and practicing for personal fulfilment by operating without any competent training or qualifications .
As per the dentist act of Indian Constitution ” practicing dental treatment without a valid dental degree is a legal crime and is punishable under law”
Question arises that how are these fake dentists surviving and why are they practicing without any fear of law ?
The answer lies in the fact that more than 70% of Indian population is residing in rural areas and a major portion is below the poverty line. At present, India has one dentist per 10,000 population in urban areas and for about 2.5 lakh persons in rural areas . The high cost of dental treatment, illiteracy, lack of awareness, poor accessibility to dental clinics and repeated dental appointments are the reasons for which most patients rely on these quacks.
Also, quacks guarantee their patients of painless and immediate treatment. The people go blindly for such treatments with immense faith in these unqualified medical healers. Most of the quacks learn some dental work while working as an assistant in dental clinics. They are able to acquire a meagre knowledge by just simple observation of the dental operating procedures with no scientific knowledge and then start off their own practice at a low cost, without using any technology and modalities. They are least concerned about the sterilization of their instruments and device their own instruments according to their convenience which have no scientific basis. Some of the basic procedures done by quacks are- extraction of teeth by using screwdrivers and pliers, restoration using self-curing acrylic as restorative material, use of suction disc on palatal surface of maxillary complete
denture to increase retention, self- curing acrylic resin in embrasure area for splinting, use of wires in removable partial denture and fixing them with adjacent teeth, removal partial denture made and fixed to the adjacent teeth with the help of self-curing acrylic resin . As a result of these non-medical and unethical treatment, patients oral health has worsened such as erosion of the palatal mucosa due to placement of suction device, erosion of gums (gingiva) due to acrylic restoration and fixation of prosthesis to gums (gingiva) with the help of self curing acrylic. These result in loosening of teeth and irreversible damage to teeth and adjoining hard and soft tissues.
Not only this- the cross contamination leads to several detrimental infections like H.I.V.,Hepatitis,Herpes etc. and the poor ignorant people aren’t even aware of the cause of these life consuming diseases.
Villagers, who lack awareness still think that tooth aches are caused by worms and the quacks use this ignorance to their gain. They pour a few drops of diluted sulphuric acid on the gums of the patients and when the gums start peeling as a result of the acid treatment, they draw out strings of tissue and claim that they are worms pulled out from the infected tooth. As the acid kills the microorganisms in the infected tooth and gives immediate temporary relief from the tooth ache, the patient also goes home happy.
Some of the quacks have also set up their clinics in some remote places and befriend the people and use their personal relationships, to develop their business as dentists.
Their boards sometimes display the words RIMP, which stands for Registered Indian Medical Practitioners when in reality there is no such degree.
Some Dental Technicians , Dental Hygienists, Dental mechanics, denturists and dental assistants have set up full fledged Clinics and are giving qualified dentists – a run for their money. They use unethical treatment modalities and lack expertise in the field. These Dental Auxiliaries are illegally doing procedures which only a qualified dentist or Dental Specialist can perform. Some Dental Auxillaries are smartly using the registration and the names of Dentists in their Clinics to dodge the administration and public by using personal relationships or even by paying a share of their profit. To track down such illegal Dental clinics- the administration must form a specialised machinery and inspect these clinics from time to time.
Improper governmental regulation and local unit of Dental Council had helped proliferate such improvised Quacks in A.C. Clinics, who are flourishing at the cost of the gullible.
The State Dental Council; the Divisional commissioner Dr. Pawan Kotwal at Provincial level, Deputy Commissioner Jammu Simrandeep Singh at District level should take cognizance of this grave problem that is taking away the lives of common people of jammu and compromising their dental and physical health and wellbeing.
The Government of India, J&K State Government and Dental Council of India should take initiatives to open new dental units in peripheries and there should be one dentist in each Primary Health Centre. Also, Govt. Of J&K should educate the rural people about the consequences of quackery through local medical and dental officers. Free dental camps should be organized in remote areas so that people can get the basic dental services at their door-steps. It is incumbent upon dentists everywhere, to protect that hard-earned reputation by weeding out quacks.
According to Revised Dentists (Code of Ethics) Regulations- 2014 by Dental Council of India- regulation no 3.7 of 3(B) Chapter 1 : -clearly states that “”A Dental Surgeon should Expose ,without fear or favour,incompetent or Corrupt,dishonest or unethical conduct on the part of members of the profession. It is the responsibility of the Dental Surgeon to report to the ‘competent authorities, instances of quackery or any kind of abuse and other social evils that may come to their attention”.
So,Ethical dentists have obligations to protect their patients and the profession.
The Indian Dental Association – Jammu Branch has approached Dental Council of India and State Govt. & Administration to direct the law enforcement agencies to strictly act against this menace. IDA- jammu branch shall be taking every possible steps to educate the denizens of Jammu not to visit these quacks and risk their lives and health.
(The author is a dental graduate from GDC Srinagar.)
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