Six dental clinics in the state face action for involving in canvassing, putting up huge sign boards along roads and publicising through press reports to lure patients.
According to A Manikyam, registrar of Andhra Pradesh State Dental Council (APSDC), a statutory body, the six dental clinics facing action are Partha Dental Care and all its branches, Vasan Dental Care and its branches, Star Dental Experts which has branches at Eluru and Amalapuram, Denty’s Superspeciality Hospital and its branches, Apollo Dental Spa and its branches and Dr Bandlamudi Basaveswara Rao Dental Clinic, Vijayawada. Speaking to Express, the registrar says that every dental practitioner or clinic has to enrol with the respective state dental council before starting the practice as per the guidelines of the Dental Council of India.
All the state dental councils function under the guidance of the Dental Council of India which was constituted under the Dentist Act,1948 and is responsible for regulation of dental education, dental profession and dental code of ethics in India.
The advertising and canvassing by these six hospitals amounts to violation of clauses (h) & (i) of Dentists (Code of Ethics) Regulations, 1976.
Following several complaints against these six dental clinics and their branches, Manikyam says, they have served notices to all these clinics but the managements have not bothered to respond to the notices. Worse, they are continuing their advertisement campaigning to attract patients.
According to the guidelines, the state council first serves notices to clinics and practitioners who involve in unethical practices and will issue an open statement in newspapers warning the clinics.
If the clinics ignore the warning and go about their way flouting norms, they will face serious action like de-registration of the clinic or suspension of the practitioner concerned from the membership of the dental council and will not be not allow to do practice anywhere in the world.
The Disciplinary Committee of AP State Dental Council met here on May 2 under the chairmanship of president Dr K Mahendranath Reddy and decided to make a public announcement on these six clinics for violation of ethics.