BHUBANESWAR: With an aim to make oral health care accessible to all, the State Government has decided to open one dental unit each in all public healthcare facilities up to the Community Health Centre (CHC) level. Inaugurating the 71st Indian Dental Conference 2018, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik said all the units will have at least one dental surgeon, adequate infrastructure and all necessary equipment.
Naveen said more than 400 posts of dental surgeons have been created out of the State budget. The dental surgeons will help in detecting oral cavity cancer at the early stage and its treatment, he added.
“The State Government has taken several steps to make oral health care accessible to all. The initiatives will ensure preventive and curative services for all the diseases in rural and under served-areas through the existing healthcare facilities,” Naveen said.Under the Rashtriya Bal Swasthya Karyakram (RBSK) programme, the Chief Minister said the dental surgeons have been posted in district early intervention centres to take care of the oral health and dental hygiene of children, who are being screened for oral diseases and referred to dentists for necessary treatment.
“The State Government is taking steps to increase seats in Master of Dental Surgery (MDS) in different disciplines to ensure availability of skilled manpower. In SCB Dental College, treatment and reconstruction of jaw bone defects are being done with the most recent methods of micro vascular surgery. It is also providing advanced treatment in conservation of teeth,” Naveen added.The three-day conference offers ample opportunities for the students and delegates to showcase their academic and extra-curricular talent.
A strong delegation of over 5,000 dentists from the country and abroad are attending the conference. Among others, Health and Family Welfare Minister Pratap Jena, president of Indian Dental Association Dr Vishwas Puranik, conference secretary Dr Subhra Nandy, organising chairman Dr Jayanta Kumar Das and organising secretary Dr Surya Kanta Das were present.