29th A.P. State Dental Conference, Warangal – Session by Dr. Ramananda Shetty

December 6th and 7th, 2008 – The dental conference by A. P. State Dental Association is being conducted and the 1st session on Day 1 has started.
First lecture by Dr. S. Ramananda Shetty, Vice-Chancellor at Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences, Karnataka.
The topic that he is talking about – “Feel Healthy – Smile Brighter”

Changes in education – Teacher centric to Student centric.
Is education acquiring knowledge in a particular field?
Next thing Dr. Shetty talked about is – Dental Education.

Learning to know – Knowledge
Learning to do – Skills/Competency
Learning to work together – Team and group concept
Develop attitude – Positiveness

In India –

• No. of universities – 428
• No. of Institutions – Over 21000
• No. of Professional colleges – 600 Medical + Dental
• No. of Professional Students – 50000 Med + Den
• No. of Dental Colleges in India – 272 (Govt – 31, Private – 241)
• No. of UG and PG students in India – 21760
• No. of Post graduate institutions – 123
• No. of Post graduate students – 2279
• In Karnataka, No. of dental colleges – 43
• In AP, No. of dental colleges – 21
• PG Institutions Karnataka : AP – 32 : 11
• UG Students Karnataka : AP – 3200 : 1790
• PG Students Karnataka : AP – 696 : 201

Changes in Dentistry over years –

This is how the Oral Medicine Department changed since years, with addition of small other parts and topics like radiology, imaging and oncology into the Oral medicine subject.
– Oral Medicine
– Oral Medicine & X-Ray Dept.
– Oral Medicine & Radiology Dept.
– Oral Medicine and Maxillofacial radiology
– Oral Medicine, Maxillofacial radiology and Imaging system
– Oral medicine, Maxillofacial radiology, Imaging system and Head & Neck Oncology.

Department of Maxillo facial has been developing from a small department to a bug one with many inclusions in the following format –
– Oral Surgery
– Oral Surgery & Exodontia
– Oral & Maxillo facial Surgery
– Oral maxillo facial & Cranio facial surgery
– Oral maxillo facial, cranio facial & cleft surgery
– Oral maxillo facial, cranio facial, cleft and head & neck surgery
– Oral maxillo facial, cranio facial, cleft and Head & Neck and implants and Head & Neck oncology
– Oral maxillo facial, cranio facial, cleft and Head & Neck, implants, head and neck oncology and esthetic surgery.

Future of dentists and dentistry
20000 graduates are coming out every year, this adds to the existing 80000. PG seats that are available are 2279, so nearly 18000 students remain with BDS every year.
There is some need for some innovative programs with which the huge number of BDS graduates can be progressed further.

Role of DCI and University
To increase the efficiency and profitability
– Diploma courses were started.
– Starting of M.Sc. in Dental Materials. – This might be a good idea for producing professors for Dental Materials subject.
– Think about increasing the number of PG students? – This can be a step to produce more experts in specialized departments in dentistry.

Role to be played by Universities –
– Starting of fellowships and certificate courses
– Post MDS fellowship courses
– Post BDS fellowship courses

What can be done with Post – MDS fellowship?

1. Fellowship in Radiology
2. Fellowship in Head and Neck oncology
3. Fellowship in Maxillo facial plastic surgery
4. Post MDS – Ph. D can be introduced.
5. Post MDS – DNB (Diplomatic National Board) ???

What can be done with Post – BDS fellowship?

1. Fellowship in Micro Dentistry – Micro-surgeries
2. Fellowship in Esthetic Dentistry
3. Fellowship in Implantology
4. Fellowship in Clinical Research
5. Fellowship in Hospital Management
6. Fellowship in HIV/AIDS
7. Post BDS Ph. D ???
8. Post BDS DNB ???

Future in Dentistry – These are going to flourish in future!
Implant Dentistry
CAD-CAM Dentistry
NANO Dentistry
Stem Cells..

That was an excellent speech and innovative thinking from Dr. Shetty, who mainly focused on how the BDS doctors can pursue some specialization in future, rather than just being stuck with their BDS Degrees.
He also continued with some example pictures of changes in Implant Dentistry, Oral Invalids(Used when regular prostheses can not be given due to some reasons like anatomical factors, physiological, neuromuscular, pathological and psychological factors), Optical impressions in CAD-CAM dentistry and few other topics.