Dental colleges in M’luru bounce back

Dental colleges in M’luru bounce back

Kevin.Mendonsa@timesgroup.com

07.01.2021

Mangaluru: Dental colleges, badly hit during the lockdown and for months thereafter, are slowly returning to normal. Patients are returning in decent numbers and this in turn is helping both UG and PG students gain clinical practice.

Interns and PG students stayed at home when colleges closed in March and resumed duties only in November. Dental students had a problem since people were postponing visits for fear of the virus and this was affecting their hands-on experience.

That has now changed with patients returning. Colleges say they follow SOPs strictly to ensure safety of both patients and students.

Dr Karthik Shetty, professor and head of department of conservative dentistry and endodontic, Manipal College of Dental Sciences (Mangaluru), said medical students learn largely through observation, but it is the exact opposite for their dental counterparts.

“We had a shortage of patients when colleges resumed. However, currently there is a regular footfall of patients and this is helping with clinical practices,” he said.

Some colleges have continued with a blend of mannequin/simulation/models and patients. Dr Akhter Husain, dean, Yenepoya Dental College, pointed out many colleges, to a certain extent, prefer mannequin/simulation for learning. There is also the practice of sharing one patient with multiple students. For example, three students prepare separate dentures for a single patient.

“We have been also following strict protocols, but it is risky for students so we send patients to them only after a complete scan. Social distancing and other norms are followed on the campus as well. A single class is now taken in two more classrooms using audio-visual systems,” Dr Akther said.

AJ Institute of Dental Sciences says about 80% of its clientele has returned. Dr Nillan K Shetty, principal of the college, said they are now only allowing post graduate students to handle patients. “We will allow undergraduates in a staggered manner,” he said.