NEET MDS 2021 Counselling From August 20 To October 10, 2021 :Centre Tells Supreme Court

NEET MDS 2021 Counselling From August 20 To October 10, 2021 :Centre Tells Supreme Court: The Union of India on Tuesday informed Supreme Court that it h

43-year-old woman dies after swallowing artificial tooth while drinking water

43-year-old woman dies after swallowing artificial tooth while drinking water

Ram.Sundaram@timesgroup.com

Chennai:14.07.2021

A 43-year-old city resident died a day after swallowing her artificial tooth accidentally while drinking water, police said.

S Rajalakshmi of Valasaravakkam had replaced three front teeth with artificial ones nearly seven years ago at a private hospital in Porur. On July 4, she suffered from dizziness and felt nauseous soon after swallowed one of the three artificial teeth by mistake. She was taken to a private hospital.

After going through her test reports, doctors felt there was nothing alarming and discharged her. But she fainted the next day and died on the way to hospital, said a police officer from Royala Nagar station, who is investigating the case.

She is survived by her husband Suresh, 48, a private advertising firm employee, and their two sons. Police have sent the body for autopsy.

Police suspect Rajalakshmi’s artificial tooth could have become loose as it was fixed seven years ago and she could have avoided a hospital visit now due to Covid tests. A case under Section 174 (unnatural death) of the Code of Criminal Procedure has been registered.

Oral pathologists say the chance of death due to swallowing of dentures is rare unless it reaches the air pipe instead of the food pipe. Delicate tissues in the air pipe might get damaged and subsequent bleeding or asphyxiation may cause death at times, they said.

Dr SM Balaji, an oral surgeon from Balaji Dental & Craniofacial Hospital in Teynampet, said the type of denture had be assessed. “Usually, acrylic removable dentures are liable to cause more damage when swallowed as they have metal clasp. This aspect is very crucial and can be identified only on autopsy or radiological imaging or previous dental records or from patient's care providers.”

Any patient wearing dentures should regularly check with dentists. Any loose denture or tooth should be promptly attended to and the person concerned not wait for an occasion to change it. In case of such swallowing, early identification of swallowed dentures and immediate medical attention can help avoid catastrophic outcomes, he said.

Dentists caution that any loose denture or tooth should be promptly attended to and the person concerned should not wait for long to change it

DCI asks dental colleges to apply for renewal of permission for BDS, MDS courses

DCI asks dental colleges to apply for renewal of permission for BDS, MDS courses: New Delhi: In a series of notices to dental colleges, the DCI has issued another notice to the principals and deans of the dental colleges of India directing them to apply for renewal of...

Despite relaxed criteria, BFUHS gets 88 applicants against 498 vacant BDS seats

Despite relaxed criteria, BFUHS gets 88 applicants against 498 vacant BDS seats

Under relaxed eligibility criteria, a general category student needs a minimum 113 marks out of total 720 in NEET-2020

Updated At: Feb 16, 2021 07:47 PM Updated: 9 hours ago

Balwant Garg

Tribune News Service

Faridkot, February 16

A week after Supreme Court lowering the percentile marks by 10 percentile to fill vacant BDS seats, Baba Faridkot University of Health Sciences (BFUHS) has got only 88 applications against 498 vacant BDS seats in 12 dental colleges in the state.

A walk-in physical counselling to fill the vacant seats will start here on Wednesday.

After the Supreme Court’s orders on February 8, the relaxed eligibility criteria for admission in BDS for a general category student is a minimum 113 marks out of total 720 marks in NEET-2020. The eligibility marks for a SC/BC and PWD student is 87 and 99 marks, respectively.

Out of 88 new applicants for the BDS seats, 66 applicants have scored less than 150 marks in NEET-2020. Three candidates of SC/BC category have scores as low as 88, 89 and 90 out of total 720 marks.

The apex court has allowed the relaxation in the eligibility with a cutoff percentile by 10 percentile for each category after many dental colleges approached the court.

It is said more than 7,000 BDS seats have remained vacant in the country this time.

Earlier, some dental colleges had approached the Dental Council of India (DCI), demanding relaxation in the eligibility criteria. The DCI had proposed to the Centre that the percentile for admission to BDS course in Dental colleges should be lowered by 20 percentile for each category but the government had declined to the proposal.

The Union government declined to lower the percentile saying that 7.71 lakh candidates were found to be eligible for filling up 82,000 MBBS and 28,000 BDS course seats in the country. For each vacant seat seven candidates were available.

It said there were 2.77 lakh dentists registered with the Dental Council of India. Taking into consideration the availability of 80 per cent of dentists, there is one dentist for every 6,080 persons which is better than the WHO norms of 1:7,500, it said.

However, the dental colleges approached Supreme Court to get this relief, saying the percentile was lowered last year also.

No takers for 700 dental seats in K’taka

No takers for 700 dental seats in K’taka

SruthySusan.Ullas@timesgroup.com

Beng aluru:16.02.2021 

At least 700 dental seats in Karnataka’s private medical colleges are likely to remain unfilled this year even after the Supreme Court relaxed admission criteria in early February.

There are 2,880 BDS seats in 44 dental colleges of the state. The colleges have so far filled 70% of the seats. While 167 had registered for the new round of counselling with the Karnataka Examinations Authority, 15 of them failed to pay fees.

In 2019, the number of seats that were vacant in the state was 291. Even if all the 150 new candidates take admission this year, around 700 seats are likely to go vacant, almost double of last year, sources said. February 18 is the last date for admissions.

On February 9, the SC ruled that reducing cutoff marks will not lower the quality of education and directed that the qualifying marks be lowered by 10 percentile. The qualifying mark for BDS became 40 percentile for general category and 30 percentile for SC/ST quota. The decision was taken in order to fill 7,000 vacant seats in the country for the academic year 2020-21.

“There could be two reasons for the increase in vacant seats this year,” said Dr Shivsharan, a Dental Council of India member. “One, there has been an addition of around 20,000 medical seats this year nationally. Also, with the next NEET in a few months, those students who did not do well and missed medical seats by a small difference in marks have another chance soon,” he said.

Dr Girish B Giraddi, dean and director, Government Dental College and Research Institute, said apart from the fear that the field has become saturated in cities, Covid played a major role in the large number of vacant seats.

Dentist changes gender, seeks new certs

Dentist changes gender, seeks new certs

Moves Court For Birth, Educational Documents With Male Identity

Saeed.Khan@timesgroup.com

Ahmedabad:06.02.2021

A 31-year-old dentist has approached the Gujarat high court requesting to direct concerned authorities to change his gender identity from female to male and put his newly assumed name in the birth and education certificates after a successful sex reassignment surgery that transformed her from a woman to a man.

The Maninagar resident has mentioned in the petition that he was born a girl in a public hospital in Dhandhuka. “Although the petitioner was born as a girl, she behaved like a boy child and was comfortable and confident in male clothing,” he stated in the petition. It was submitted that he was diagnosed as a case of gender dysphoria. Upon obtaining expert opinion, the petitioner underwent a surgery in April 2018 successfully.

After the sex revision surgery, he has got all identification documents under his newly accepted male name and they all specifically mention his gender as a male. He has got an Aadhaar card, passport and driving licence in his new name which reflects his new male identity.

The problem arose when the civic body, concerned education authorities and the dentist council declined to issue educational certificates and birth certificates in his new name and gender. “If his name and gender are not changed in these documents, the same would cause great inconvenience to the petitioner,” the petition reads.

The dentist urged the HC to direct Dhandhuka municipality to change his name and sex from female to male in the birth certificate. He has also sought directions to the Gujarat State Secondary and Higher Secondary Education Board and Bhavnagar University to make necessary changes in education certificates. He also wants the Gujarat State Dental Council to make changes in his registration certificate as a dentist.

The high court has issued notices to all these authorities and sought their replies. Further hearing is posted on February 18, said petitioner’s advocate Premal Joshi.

60% of dental seats vacant in K’taka

60% of dental seats vacant in K’taka

Deepthi.Sanjiv@timesgroup.com

Mangaluru:11.01.2021

With nearly 60% of over 2,800 seats in Karnataka not filled after the second round of counselling by the Karnataka Examinations Authority, a member of the Dental Council of India (DCI) has suggested relaxing the eligibility criteria.

DCI member Dr Shivasharan told TOI that 1,678 of the 2,834 seats are vacant and he met medical education minister K Sudhakar in this regard with a request that the NEET eligibility be lowered by 20 percentile points as per the DCI recommendation.

The member has said, in a letter to the minister, that BDS seats were vacant in Karnataka and other states in the past too. “To tide over the situation of vacant seats, the ministry of health and family welfare had lowered the eligibility of NEET percentile in the previous years and extended the last date of BDS admission 15 days beyond the last date of medical admission.”

The ministry promptly extended the last date for the 2020-21BDS admissions from January 15 to January 30. “We hope that the government will look into the percentile issue,” he added.

Dr Shivasharan said a key reason for seat vacancy is that many colleges have upgraded their infrastructure and increased student intake. For instance, the colleges which used to offer 150 medical seats have increased the intake to 250.

Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences will start a regional centre in Mangaluru and the DCI will set up a dental research lab at Maryhill. The country has 313 dental institutes and Karnataka has 44.

“A dental research lab will be a boon, especially to postgraduate students dependent on medical research labs or NITK labs for their thesis. It will have full-time dedicated staff for dental research. The tendering process is expected to commence soon,” said Shivasharan.

Fee row: Parents protest in B’luru

Seeking reduction in school fees for the current academic year, parents in Bengaluru hit the streets again on Sunday. Refusing to intervene, the state had urged the school managements to resolve the issue. P 4

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.

TN seeks nod to open two new dental colleges

TN seeks nod to open two new dental colleges

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai: 17.12.2020

Tamil Nadu has sought permission from the Dental Council of India to start two dental colleges in Virudhunagar and Pudukottai for 2021-22 admissions. This is likely to increase the number of dental seats in the state by 200.

Until this year, the state had just one medical college – the Madras Dental College and Hospital in Chennai affiliated to Tamil Nadu Dr MGR Medical University with 100 BDS seats. “We will add 200 more seatstothe matrix if we get permission from the apex body,” saidhealthsecretary JRadhakrishnan.

Besides offering better and free oral health to people in rural areas, the proposed government colleges will help more studentstotakeup dentistry,he said. Every year, while all seats in government dental colleges are taken, many seats in self-financing dentalcolleges remain vacant. For instance in, 2017-2018, at least 265 seats in self-financing colleges were vacant and the following year it rose to  392.

In June this year, at the end of three rounds of counselling, more than 1,000 BDS vacant seats in self-financing dental colleges were vacant and the state selection committee extended phase-1 of the single window counselling for undergraduate dental admissions by three days. The committee said 417 of 1,070 government seats and 640 of 690 management seats were vacant. Some colleges have even agreed to convert some of their management quota seats into government quota to woo students.

Many students who cleared NEET decided to retake tests so they can get admissions in government medical or dental colleges. This is because the fee structure in self-financing dental colleges can go up to Rs 2.5 lakh compared to Rs 11,610 in Madras Dental College.

Government, however, thinks training more dentists and establishing facilities will help the government take tertiary dental care to people in the rural areas. “Several studies have shown tremendous improvement in public health with good oral hygiene practices.Diseasesin the mouthcan be an early indicator to several non-communicable diseases. New colleges will help us achieve this,” said director of medical education Dr R Narayanababu.

Several senior dentists say that this move will offer better career options to dentists. “Despite the shortage in the number of dentists, many don’t have adequate jobs. A small fraction of the population takes dental health seriously. Most people don’t make annual visits to dentists. Only strong infrastructure and government policy can change this,” said senior dentist Dr SM Balaji.

Dental council prez sacked over illegalities

11.10.2020 

The health ministry has declared that Dr Dibyendu Mazumdar ceases to be president of Dental Council of India (DCI) with immediate effect as his election to the post, held on December 15 last year, was “illegal and invalid”.

The ministry has sought a fresh election. After receiving a complaint regarding the December poll, the ministry had constituted a two-member panel on January 6 and reconstituted it in February to enquire into the complaints and file a report. According to the panel’s report, the very membership of Dr Mazumdar is illegal as he had “attained the age of 65 years on July 9, 2019”, well before the election. It also said there were illegalities in the electoral roll used for the election. TNN

Full report on www.toi.in

50-yr-old dentist ends life over poor financial health -

50-yr-old dentist ends life over poor financial health -

The Times Of India

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Surat:

A 50-year-old dentist allegedly committed suicide by slitting his throat with a surgical blade in his clinic in Kaskiwad locality on Tuesday night.

Preliminary investigation suggested that Dr Azim Patrawala took the drastic step due to financial crisis that had worsened during the lockdown.

He ran the clinic wit his wife Sarah who is also a dentist.

At around 10pm on Tuesday, his elder daughter went to check at his clinic as Dr Patrawala did not return home at his usual time of 7pm.

She found him lying in a pool of blood.

“The cut on the throat was two inches deep and roughly three inches long. Postmortem and forensic experts confirmed that he committed suicide,” said a police officer at Lalgate police station.

“The family members told us that Dr Patrawala was upset due to worsening financial condition. Police are also trying to find out if he was under debt,” said a police official.

Dr Patrwala have two daughters, one aged 17 years and other 12.

Dr Patrwala was also a sailing enthusiast and actively promoted this sport, which is rare in this region. He used to guide and support in organizing sailing competition organised at Magdalla every year.

He also started Surat Sailing Club and visited multiple locations abroad to participate in sailing expeditions.

“He was a sportsman and sailing enthusiast. I cannot believe that he could commit suicide. It is a shocker for many of his friends,” said a businessman who used to exercise with Dr Patrawala at a city club in the past.

3 dental colleges told to pay ₹8.1cr - The Times Of India

 3 dental colleges told to pay ₹8.1cr - The Times Of India

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Bengaluru:15.09.2020

Acting tough on illegal admissions to professional courses, the high court directed three dental colleges in north Karnataka to pay Rs 8.1 crore (Rs 10 lakh per student) as cost for granting post-facto approval to 81 students who had completed BDS course.

These students were admitted under the unexhausted CET or government quota seats and they hadn’t appeared for the entrance test.

As per the direction issued by a division bench comprising Justices Krishna S Dixit and P Krishna Bhat, the students have to submit a stamped affidavit in two months and an undertaking to do rural service in Karnataka. The cost amount also has to be deposited with the court in two months and it will be transferred to the Chief Minister’s Calamity/ Covid Relief Fund.

The high court’s Kalaburagi bench said the college has to pay for the violation and the students, who were beneficiaries of the same, need to render one-year community service.

SB Patil Dental College and Hospital, Bidar, along with 35 students; Hyderabad Karnataka Development Education Trust’s Dental College and Hospital, Humnabad, Bidar district, with 22 students and S Nijalingappa Institute of Dental Sciences and Research, Kalaburagi, with 25 students had approached the court in 2016 challenging endorsements issued by Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences.

Admissions not approved

Refusing to approve the students’ admissions, the university stated that assessment of comparative merits by CET is a pre-condition for admission. However, it was later stated that the name of Mohammed Asif, a student of Kalaburagi college, was inadvertently included as a petitioner though he had appeared for CET.

The petitioners said there’s no legal requirement of CET as a pre-condition for admission of candidates under the unexhausted quota of government seats. Students shouldn’t be made scapegoats for the management’s fault, they added. During the pendency, by way of an interim order, the students were allowed to complete the course.

Get parents’ nod for dental exams, Nair students told

Get parents’ nod for dental exams, Nair students told

Mumbai: 22.06.2020

Final-year students from Nair Dental College have been asked to get consent forms signed by their parents to take the exams currently scheduled July 16-22 from the Mumbai Central campus.

The Maharashtra University of Health Sciences had allowed students to opt for a centre close to home, but of the 40 outstation students, only two opted for it. The college is a Covid-19 care centre. The Maharashtra Students’ Union has written to the governor, CM and medical education minister demanding action against the college. But acting dean Dr Freny Karjodkar said: We...are taking utmost care...when students appear for exams. But we wanted to make sure parents are aware that students had the option of appearing for the exam in their hometown and still decided to come here. The consent isn’t a way to shirk responsibility.” TNN

Dentist suffocated to death in OT; clinic staff booked for negligence

Dentist suffocated to death in OT; clinic staff booked for negligence

Kiran.Parashar@timesgroup.com

Bengaluru:10.06.2020

Eighteen days after a 26-year-old dentist died in a Sarjapur Road clinic where he worked, city police on Monday booked a case of death due to negligence.

The development came in the wake of the postmortem finding that carbon monoxide, emitted by a generator in the building, could be the cause of the dentist, Dr Nithin Shetty’s death and his family members filing a police complaint.

The family members identified as suspects two individuals connected to the clinic, which is part of a large dental healthcare network in South India.

Nithin was from Mangaluru and got married on February 7. He joined the clinic at Kaikondarahalli on Sarjapur Road on May 21 but did not go to work due to the lockdown.

He resumed duty on May 20. The next day, he left for work by 9.30am. At 2.35pm, Nithin called his wife Deepthi Alva over the phone and told her that there was no electricity in the building as well as the clinic. Nithin then told his wife that he did not know where the generator was installed and that he would be calling the attender to find out where the generator switch was located, according to the complaint.

When Nithin did not respond to her calls later, Deepthi alerted her family members and friends. At 9.30pm, Nithin’s friend Dhawan went to the hospital and found that the former had collapsed in the operation theatre and was bleeding from the mouth. He was taken to Columbia Asia hospital where he was declared brought dead.

After the postmortem report suggested he suffocated to death due to carbon monoxide, Bellandur police registered a case under IPC section 304 (a) (causing death by negligence). Nithin’s family suspects he had switched on the generator and returned to the OT which had no ventilation and carbon monoxide from the generator might have filled the building, leading to his death.

Deepthi’s brother Akash filed a complaint against two clinic officials. “We’ve questioned them and sent evidence for forensic examination,” police said.

Nithin Shetty, who had gone to the clinic on May 21, called his wife to tell there was no electricity. He reportedly switched on the generator and carbon monoxide filled the building. He was found bleeeding from the mouth in the OT which had no ventilation

Guidelines issued for dentists

Guidelines issued for dentists

Union Health Ministry says clinics will remain closed in containment zones

20/05/2020,

 BINDU SHAJAN PERAPPADAN ,NEW DELHI

Exercising caution:

 Patients have been asked to seek ambulance services to go to COVID-19 dental facilities. AFP

The Union Health Ministry on Tuesday issued unified guidelines for dental professionals, warning that some patients making visits may be asymptomatic carriers of COVID-19. It emphasised that all those visiting a dental office must be treated with due precautions.

Viral load

“Most dental procedures require close contact with the patient’s oral cavity, saliva, blood, and respiratory tract secretions, and saliva is rich in COVID-19 viral load. Hence all urgent procedures should be undertaken only after consultation, tele-triage, consent, and through pre-fixed appointments only”, the Ministry noted.

It said dental clinics would remain closed in the containment zones. However, they could continue to provide tele-triage.

Patients in this zone could seek ambulance services to travel to the nearest COVID-19 dental facility.

“In the red zone, emergency dental procedures can be performed, while the dental clinics in orange/green zones will function to provide consults. Dental operations should be restricted to emergency and urgent treatment procedures only,’’ stated the Ministry.

Risk of cross-infection

In the current pandemic, dentists, auxiliaries as well as patients undergoing dental procedures were at high risk of cross-infection. All routine and elective dental procedures should be deferred for a later review until new policy/guidelines were issued.

Due to the high risk associated with the examination of the oral cavity, oral cancer screening under National Cancer Screening programme should also be deferred.

Uncertain Future

Tough time ahead for dentistsCovid-19 poses threat as they directly deal with mouth; fear closure of some private clinics post lockdown

Cricketer-turned-dentist Parth Satwalekar treating his friend and former cricketer VVS Laxman.

N Jagannath Das  Hyderabad

One of the biggest casualties in the Covid-19 pandemic in the medical profession could be dentists as they directly deal with the mouth. Droplets are the biggest threat to dentists. Even their profession as dentists is at stake and the harsh reality is that there could be closure of some of the private clinics post Covid-19.

Dr G Chandrasekhar, Professor and Head, Dept of Orthodontics, Panineeya Dental College (Hyderabad) said dentists are doctors who work close to the patient’s mouth.

“We will be treading on an uncertain path. It is a potential threat to both doctors and patients. Aerosol is created when high-powered devices like Airotors use compressed air and water. Most procedures performed by the dental teams have the potential to create contaminated aerosols and splatter,” he said.

“Aerosols are tiny particles or droplets which remain suspended in air. Numerous airborne particles derived from blood, saliva, tooth debris, dental plaque, calculus and restorative material are produced by an ultrasonic scaler when used in combination with water spray,” he said, adding that Airotar was an important tool for tooth preparation for any dental procedure like root canal treatment or making artificial tooth.

Dr Parth Satwalekar, a cricketer-turned-dentist, says it will be like batting on an unknown wicket.

‘’The future of dental clinics and colleges is very scary. It won’t be the same as it was before the lockdown. It’s like putting your hand in the lions mouth as all of dentistry happens inside a patient’s mouth. Dental procedure prices, which are already considered by most to as expensive, will rise even higher as dentists will have to use new PPEs for every patient and every appointment. For sure, there will be worries and apprehensions, both for the patients and the dentists. We will be caught in no man’s land sometimes as we won’t be able to know the patients’ contact history’’ he said.

Dr N Viveka Vardhan Reddy, Principal & Professor of Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery, SVS Institute of Dental Sciences, Mahabubnagar, feels dentists have to follow guidelines issued by WHO and Dental Council of India while treating the patients after the lockdown.

“It will be a testing time for dentists. We all have to be cautious while treating patients. It has now become potentially a high-risk job. Performing surgeries in the mouth is something that will be a big concern,’’ said Reddy, adding that the government should step in to help young dental practitioners.

“There should be reduction of taxes on dental materials and equipment and also reduction of tariff of electricity charges for dental clinics (commercial to domestic) to help young doctors,’’ he said, also demanding recognition of all dental clinics for treatment of government employees and reimbursement facilities rather than for a few selected corporate hospitals or clinics.

NEXT After BDS For License To Practice, PG Dental Admissions Proposed By Govt
By Meghna A Singhania  Published On 30 Jan 2020 2:27 PM | Updated On 30 Jan 2020 2:27 PM

After MCI takeover, Govt moves to set up National Dental commission,invites comments on Bill

New Delhi: After successfully moving to replace the scam-tainted Medical Council of India (MCI), with the proposed more transparent body of National Medical Commission (NMC), the government is now moving to do the same thing for the dentistry profession, by abolishing the Dental Council of India (DCI) and setting up a National Dental commission (NDC).

For the same, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has put in the public domain and invited comments on the draft National Dental commission Bill that calls for setting up a National Dental commission and repealing the Dentists Act, 1948. Comments by stakeholders and public may be furnished via e-mail at v.ihal972@gov.in on or before 20.02.2020

The bill seeks to replace the existing Dental Council of India with a body National Dental commission that would regulate dental education as well as the dentistry profession throughout India. Salient features of the bill include

1) The Bill envisages the National Dental Commission that would contain both ex-officio and elected members and would be the apex regulatory body for the dentistry profession and education

2) The bill calls for setting up of a Dental Advisory Council that would advise the commission, help in shaping the overall agenda, policy and action relating to dental education and training in India

3) NEET- The Bill calls for uniform National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test for admission to the undergraduate and postgraduate dental education in all Dental institution. The bill, however, adds the uniform National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test for admission to the postgraduate dental education shall continue till the National Exit Test comes into force

4) NEXT- The bill envisages a common final year undergraduate dental examination to be known as the National Exit Test (Dental) shall be held for granting licence to practice dentistry as dentists and for enrolment in the State Register or the National Register, as the case may be. The bill states that NEXT would be brought in within three years of the commencement of the bill. The National Exit Test (Dental) shall be the basis for to the postgraduate dental education in dental institutions

5) Four Boards- The Bill envisages, setting up of 4 autonomous boards constituted to perform various functions under the Act

a) the Under- Graduate Dental Education Board- The said board would be responsible for UG dental education determine standards of dental education at the undergraduate level and oversee all aspects relating thereto. It functions would range from setting up the curriculum, framing guidelines for dental institutions imparting education, determine the minimum requirements and standards for conducting courses and examinations for undergraduates in dental institutions, determine standards and norms for infrastructure. faculty and quality of education in dental institutions providing undergraduate dental education, grant recognition Io a dental qualification at the undergraduate course and much more

(b) the Post-Graduate Dental Education Board- Similar to the UG Dental Education Board, this board would be responsible for PG dental education and determine the standards of dental education at the postgraduate level, develop competency-based dynamic curriculum at postgraduate level, frame guidelines for setting up of dental institutions for imparting postgraduate courses, determine the minimum requirements and standards for conducting postgraduate courses and examinations in dental institution, ) determine standards and norms for infrastructure, faculty and quality of education and much more

(c) the Dental Assessment and Rating Board- The bill envisages a Dental Assessment and Rating Board that would determine the Procedure for assessing and rating the dental institutions for their compliance to the standards laid down by Under-Graduate Dental Education Board or the Post-Graduate Dental Education Board. This is the board that would grant permission for the establishment or to start any postgraduate course or to increase seats and would carry out the necessary inspections for the same.

(d) the Ethics and Dental Registration Board- This board would be in charge of governing the standards of the dental profession, maintain the National Register National Register of all licensed dentists and regulate professional conduct accordance and promote dental ethics as per the regulations of the act

The bill also lays the down the setup and functions of the state dental councils and the coordination of the state units with the National Dental Commission

The bill has now been laid down in the public domain for comments.

Comments by stakeholders and public may be furnished via e-mail at v.ihal972@gov.in on or before 20.02.2020

You can check out the full bill by clicking on the following link

Draft National Dental Commission Bill

Chennai: Dental colleges told to give data on infra, staff

DECCAN CHRONICLE. | J V SIVA PRASANNA KUMAR

PublishedFeb 17, 2020, 1:31 am IST

The DCI informed all the 37 applicant colleges about the scheme for starting.

The private dental college should provide bank guarantee of required amount in favour of the DCI, New Delhi valid for the entire duration of the course to a nationalised or scheduled bank.

CHENNAI: The Dental Council of India (DCl) has directed the new (applicant) dental colleges to submit particulars about the infrastructure and teaching staff in the college for approval to start the post graduate dentistry course - Master of Dental Surgery (MDS) - for the academic session 2020- 21.

The private dental college should provide bank guarantee of required amount in favour of the DCI, New Delhi valid for the entire duration of the course to a nationalised or scheduled bank.

For dental colleges or institutions which are governed by State government, an undertaking shall be made by the State government concerned to provide funds in their plan budget regularly till facilities are fully provided as per the time bound programme in the DCI's norms against starting and increase in seats in the MDS course.

The dental colleges or institutions will provide an undertaking to implement any decision of the DCI or central government regarding payment of stipend to PG students.

Bhabha College of Dental Sciences, Bhopal, Chettinad Dental College & Research institute, Kanchipuram, Dr. Ziauddin Ahmad Dental College Faculty of Medicine, AMU, Aligarh, Faculty of Dental Sciences, King Ceorge's Medical University, Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, Faculty of Dental Sciences Institute of Medical Sciences, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, Geetanjali Dental & Research Institute, Udaipur, Rajasthan, Goa Dental College & hospital, Goa, Goenka Research Institute of Dental Science, Gandhinagar, Gujarat, Government College of Dentistry, Indore, Government Dental College & Hospital, Afzalganj, Hyderabad, Karpaga Vinayaga Institute of Dental Sciences, Kanchipuram, Saveetha Dental College & Hospitals, Chennai, SRM Kattankulathur Dental College & Hospital, SRM Nagar, Kattankulathur (Kanchipuram), Sri Ramachandra Dental College & Hospital. Chennai, and Sri Venkateshwaraa Dental College, Puducherry, figure in the list of colleges.

"The applicant should provide all infrastructural facilities in terms of teaching and non-teaching staff, building, equipment and hospital facilities as per norms of DCI. No student should be admitted in the above course till the formal permission of the Central government is granted," stated a circular issued on Feb. 12.

Also, the DCI informed all the 37 applicant colleges about the scheme for starting or increasing number of seats under the economically weaker section (EWS) quota in 8 colleges for the MDS course.

Chhattisgarh nominates West Bengal doctor to Dental Council of India, sparks row

TNN | Dec 13, 2019, 05.12 PM IST

RAIPUR: Chhattisgarh government has nominated to Dental Council of India (DCI) a former controversial DCI chairman and a known doctor from West Bengal Dr Dibyendu Mazumder—sparking a row with many council members questioning his nomination on multiple grounds, including that he is facing cases registered by the Central Bureau of Investigation.

DCI members have written to union minister for health and family welfare Dr Harshvardhan and chief minister Bhupesh Baghel, questioning his nomination from Chhattisgarh, pointing out a full time dentist and resident of Kolkata got his dentist registration transferred to Chhattisgarh on November 29 and he was subsequently nominated by the state government to DCI. Quoting the dentist Act, DCI members said a dentist can transfer his registration from one state to another is he is shifting his practice or residence.

Pointing out that the CBI had earlier registered cases against Mazumdar, DCI member Dr Shaji K Joseph said the ministry of health and family welfare (MoHFW) had in September this year wrote to DCI noting that his DCI membership came to an end the day he attained 65 years of age and necessary action be taken to ensure that he had no access to official files nor discharge of any of the functions of DCI.

However, Chhattisgarh health minister T S Singhdeo strongly defended his nomination to DCI from Chhattisgarh saying “We go by his merits and potential for DCI than the CBI cases which are politically motivated”.

Singhdeo told TOI “to the best of my knowledge, there is no such reservation or limitation for nominating as state representative in DCI election. I am aware that even BJP is pushing someone as its representative from Karnataka”.

“Dr Muzumdar has been president of DCI during UPA regime. I strongly defend his nomination”. Many senior Congress leaders from other states have also suggested his name from Chhattisgarh”, he said adding “If the Congress high command have any objection, we can always revise the decision”.

Former DCI member from Chhattisgarh Dr Anil Khakaria said there are many capable and known dentists in the state and it is surprising that the health minister could find only a person whose tenure in DCI as its president has been marred with controversies. He said the dentists have already sought chief minister Bhupesh Baghel’s intervention to cancel his nomination in the interests of dentists of Chhattisgarh.

In a first, Pudukkottai dentist collects 64,800 human teeth 

DECCAN CHRONICLE. | R. VALAYAPATHY

Published Nov 4, 2019, 5:26 am IST
 

A Dubai-based dentist couple had created another world record by collecting 25,000 teeth in the year 2016.

Dr Rajesh Kannan poses with his certificates for record collection of extracted human teeth. (Photo: DC)

Pudukkottai: A Pudukkottai-based dentist Dr Rajesh Kannan has created a new record in India books of records, Asia book of records and also hopes to enter the Guinness book of records in collecting the largest number of 64,800 extracted human teeth, beating two previous records recently.

According to Dr Rajesh Kannan, the previous record in this category of having collected 11,500 teeth by an Indian dentist Dr Jibreel of Madurai Meenakshi Mission Hospital, had made it to both India book of records and Asian book of records in 2011. A Dubai-based dentist couple had created another world record by collecting 25,000 teeth in the year 2016. But this one exceeds both those records.

He said he had collected these teeth over 15 years of his clinical practice as well as organised more than 120 dental camps and also with the help of his fellow dentists who have been collecting teeth for the last ten years for achieving his record.

The object of his record was to create awareness among the general public about oral hygiene and the importance of teeth for their overall health, Dr Rajesh Kannan told DC.

He said he got the spot approval and certificate from Asia book of records judge Dr Harisha for both Asia book of Records and India book of records.

He has also applied to Guinness book of world records with all documentary evidence and will get his certificate from them shortly, he added.

Dr Rajesh said on February 2 this year he also created the World's largest tooth model measuring 35-ft and broke the previous record set by Sensodyne, New Zealand, which created 32-ft tooth model. A juries' panel from Guinness book of world records, London, came to Pudukkottai and after their spot verification, they handed over the certificate for that feat to him, he added.