‘Timely check-ups, preventive measures essential for good oral health’
Sanjeev K Sharma
JAMMU, Apr 29: As every second to third person including children these days have some or the other dental problem, there are long and serpentine queues in dental hospitals—both private and Government in Jammu and this increasing rush of patients suffering from various dental ailments is also keeping the other small clinics in the city and adjoining areas busy.
Though many prominent hospitals and certain Non-Government Organisations (NGOs) organise dental camps to aware and provide medical aid to the affected persons yet the number of patients suffering from dental problems is still quite large.
“There is a significant increase in dental ailments these days especially among the children and the prominent reason for this is the changed lifestyle and more consumption of junk and fast foods,” informed Dr. Rakesh Krishan Gupta, Principal Indira Gandhi Government Dental College & Hospital (IGGDC&H) Jammu.
Dr. Gupta also said that children these days rarely have physical exertion and they mostly remain busy with laptop and smart phones all the time even to the extent that they sometimes even avoid brushing their teeth.
“They consume fast foods as they have an easy access to the same from online sellers and they mostly lack a healthy diet including raw fruits and vegetables and due to all this they develop cavities in their teeth even at the age of three or four years,” he maintained adding: “Today teeth even grow in children much before the proper age which also remain overcrowded and wrongly aligned and require proper maintenance and medical care.”
Dr. Gupta also said that in adults though smoking habit has been reduced to a large extent but the habit of chewing tobacco, Gutkha etc is still prevalent and is responsible for certain dental problems even in younger age and in many cases the adults even completely lose their teeth which then necessitates implantation of dentures.
“Late marriages at present is also one of the reasons for dental problems while in some belts of Doda-Bhaderwah where fluoride contents in water are more than the normal limits, colour of the tooth becomes pale which makes the teeth brittle,” the Principal of Dental College informed.
He said that preventive measures are the better remedy today for which the youngsters should first of all change their lifestyles.
Other experts stressed that the public at large should be educated and motivated towards dental care while the parents should help their children learn proper brushing techniques and brushing the teeth should be done twice a day—in evening as well as in the morning while change in the diet pattern of the children should also be introduced without wasting any time.
“Adults should be advised to avoid tobacco, smoking etc and they should be shown certain informative videos highlighting ailments caused by the chewing of tobacco and smoking while the marriages should also be done in proper time,” they informed.
Sources at IGGDC&H informed that more than 500 patients are examined and treated on daily basis at the Hospital and the institute is now having better facilities which are not available in private clinics and institutes.
They said that there are nine departments at IGGDC&H dealing with different dental problems but maximum patients visiting the Hospital need filling, root canalling and endodontic services which are taken care of by the Conservative Dentistry and Endodontic Department.
“Departments of Dental Surgery and Dental Paediatrics in the Hospital also witness more footfall of patients,” they maintained adding: “As compared to yesteryears, more patients are now visiting the IGGDC&H in Jammu because they get better care and better facilities here.
More sources in IGGDC&H said that the Hospital also organises dental camps at different places to provide free of cost services and awareness to the people affected with dental problems.
When contacted, Dr. Azhar Malik, Conservative Dentistry and Endodontic Department Head at the IGGDC&H said they organised about 20-25 dental camps last year and covered almost all the jails of Jammu province under an outreach programme.
“Our medical teams visited jails of Kot Bhalwal, Ambphalla, Reasi, Udhampur, Kathua, Bhaderwah, Kishtwar etc as the inmates in these jails can’t visit us directly due to restrictions on them,” he said.
Dr. Malik informed that during these camps they found that some jail inmates had cavities, some had tooth pains and others had other type of problems which were treated there itself by the teams of dental hospital.
“Apart from jails we also organised dental camps at Indian Institute of Integrative Medicine, schools, Indian Institute of Technology, Central University of Jammu, University of Jammu and other major institutions in Jammu,” he maintained adding that during their camps at these institutions they noted good oral hygiene among the students though there were a few cases with minor problems.
Dr. Malik said: “Poor maintenance of oral hygiene is one of the reasons for dental problems and the people of Jammu are now more cautious about dental problems.”
He informed that though the traditional ways of using Datun are good for maintaining oral hygiene but nowadays many sophisticated things like soft toothbrushes etc are also available which are good for our teeth.
“My department deals with filling and curing pains and majority of people these days suffer from these problems,” he continued adding that about 150 patients visit his department daily and are benefitted.
More experts voiced for regular dental check-ups at least once in six months for good oral health.
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