“Thanks to the awareness among the people about dental implants, a dentist has become a want-based dentist from the earlier need-based dentist”, said honorary secretary of Indian Society of Oral Implantologists Uday Shetty.
His statement explains how well the dental implants have become popular and the patients want them to be fixed. Dental implant is made of titanium is like the root under the gum which is capped by a ceramic cap (tooth). Fixing an implant in an Indian needs better skill since Indians’ bones are thinner.
The dental implant is there for the last 50 years but has gained popularity during the last 10 or 15 years in India. This is the latest and most accepted method while fixing an artificial tooth. The dentures, which are removable and not liked by patients much because of this discomfiture or embarrassment, and making a bride to accommodate an artificial tooth in the process of which healthy teeth on both sides have to be grinded, are not of great favour with the patients.
A lot of advances have been made in implants and the ISOI has a tie-up with the American Academy of Implant Dentistry while the manufacturers of implants, all of them foreign companies, are also organising courses in the implant technology, Dr. Shetty, who is in the city to launch the ISOI study club, told The Hindu on Saturday.
“Implant technique is not taught in the dental colleges at the under-graduate level and the dentists get trained by the senior dentists who gained expertise in the field at the study clubs of ISOI and the other programmes it organises”, Dr Shetty said.
“Clinical skills of our Indian implantologists are very good and are on par with their counter parts in the advanced countries. Since the treatment here is cheaper than in the West, ‘dental tourism’ has increased very much. For example, patients from Western countries and Middle East visit Goa, Mumbai and other places to get treated for dental problems along with getting implants fixed, apart from enjoying the holidays”, he said.
Another expert in implantology Sachin Deep Singh said the future of dentistry is in implants. “Now every clinician has to learn implant technology”, he said.
The cost of a quality implant (which is the foundation for artificial teeth and four to six implants are needed to fix 12 teeth, the maximum in a jaw) is between Rs. 30,000 and Rs. 40,000 and the cost would come down if it is manufactured in India.
