Date:07/11/2009 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2009/11/07/stories/2009110751150200.htm

Kerala - Thrissur

Survey on dental malady planned

Staff Reporter

— PHOTO: K.K. Najeeb

ACADEMIC DISCUSSION: Former Chief Secretary D. Babu Paul addresses the 37th national conference of the Indian Prosthodontic Society in Thrissur on Friday.

Thrissur: The 37th national conference of the Indian Prosthodontic Society (IPS) has called for a national survey on edentulism (loss of teeth).

Addressing the conference, T. V. Padmanabhan, president of the IPS, said that the IPS would take the initiative in collecting and compiling basic data on edentulism.

“Collection of data is essential for building oral health policies. Lack of data currently hampers oral heath promotion,” he said.

He called for improving standards of dental education in the country. He urged the government to cancel or reduce duties on dental equipment. “It will not only aid research on oral health but also make treatment available to the common man at affordable rates. Inaugurating the conference, former Chief Secretary D. Babu Paul said the greatest social responsibility before prosthodontists was to make their services available to the rural poor instead of catering to the demands of the urban rich.

“The best of super-specialty health care is now available only in cities. About 90 per cent of the Indian population lives in villages. When super-specialist doctors focus their energy on hospitals in metros, they extend their service only to 10 per cent of people in the country. This does not amount to balanced development,” he said.

There was increasing demand for prosthetic services in the country, the conference noted.

“More adults are becoming edentulous. According to the U.N., 21 per cent of the Indian population will be above the age of 60 by 2051. Prosthodontics will thus have increasing relevance in the coming years,” the conference said.

S. Ramananda Shetty, Vice-Chancellor of the Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences; Rajan Varughese, Pro Vice-Chancellor of Mahatma Gandhi University; K. L. Baby, conference chairman; and Vinod Krishnan, organising secretary, were present.

As many as 536 papers will be presented at the conference.

Thirty-two experts will deliver keynote speeches. The speakers will include Christian F. J. Stappert (High strength ceramics in implant dentistry: secrets of success); Yasumasa Akagawa (Bone augmentation for aesthetic-functional implant treatment); Kazuyoshi Baba (Sleep Bruxism, a risk factor in prosthodontics); Mahendra Nath Reddy, Suchetan Pradhan (Lasers in prosthodontics); E.G.R. Solomon (A journey into the world of occlusion).

The three-day conference coincides with the observance of the 40th anniversary of prosthodontics training in Kerala.