Dentists in Army over-burdened: DG Dental Services

Chandigarh, Apr 8: Terming the annual oral check-up of ''each and every jawan'' as a challenge, Armed forces Dental Services Director General Lt Gen Paramjit Singh today said that there was only a single dentist for nearly every five thousand soldiers and their families in the armed forces.

''We are over-burdened,'' he said while talking at the Command Hospital at Chandimandir, near here.

Besides the seven full-fledged dental centres one each at the Army Command hospitals and one each at the Naval and Air Force Commands, there were several smaller units of dental care which further catered to the frontal areas across the country, he said, adding that the number of mobile dental units were recently increased at Siachen and other high altitude areas.

Lt Gen Singh said the dental problems were slightly more among the soldiers posted at Siachen and other high altitude areas.

''We regularly make the soldiers aware of oral health and they follow precautionary measures as well,'' he added.

The oral diseases were more common among those jawans who had a habit of chewing betelnut or tobacco and smoking in excess and they mainly came from the states like Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, he said.

He said the Armed Medical Corps was presently working in several projects in collaboration with the DRDO (Defence Research Development Organisation). One of the breakthroughs in the recent past had been the launch of the Indigenous Dental Implant Manufacturing Unit of the Army that also catered to the distributing agencies dealing with the civilian dental fraternity.

Lt Gen Paramjit Singh inspected the Dental Unit at the Command Hospital here and also inaugurated the newly constructed fountain and a waterfall in front of the main building of the unit.

UNI