Seriousness of Oral health in India.

 We are well aware of the fact, how irresponsible we are whenever it comes to our health especially oral health. We know the importance of our oral structures like teeth, gums, tongue, etc but still, we don't care about these and keep on ignoring the things. Before proceeding, just ask yourself about your last visit to a dentist. I'm sure more than 90% of you hadn't visited any dentist for years for your healthy checkup though it is advised to visit your dentist at least once every six months.

Talking about self-care, do you change your toothbrush every three or four months? If not, then pal you need to start taking your oral health seriously. A person usually visits the dentist only when he suffers. The pain associated with a toothache or any other oral disease is usually unbearable and only then the person realizes oral health and the importance of the visit to the dentist. So, stop waiting for the occurrence of serious problems and start taking oral health seriously.  

Oral problems in Developing and Developed countries:

The problem of oral health is mainly associated with the developing and underdeveloped regions. In developed countries, people usually care about their oral structures equally like any other body organ like heart, brain, etc. Now the reason behind this may be the lack of awareness/seriousness in the underdeveloped and developing countries or the lack of proper instruments and facilities. Truly speaking both the problems are equally responsible for bad oral health. People don't understand how important it is to preserve oral tissues and maintain a healthy oral environment. This happens because of the lack of awareness and knowledge related to oral health. 

Being associated with dental sciences, I realized how irresponsible the people are with respect to their their oral health. Most people visit dental hospitals only when their pain is out of their control or their oral disease has already reached its critical stage. Sometimes people come to the dentist when their oral tissues get more than 60 to 80% damaged. This thing shocks me and makes me think, every time I encounter such condition that how careless these people are, how neglecting and ignoring these people are, who are just not caring about the part that is associated with the main senses like taste, speech, etc, helps in the process of digestion, maintain aesthetics and many more. Everyone wanted a good looking face and an attractive smile, Is it possible to achieve this without achieving good oral health? 

Oral health - A taboo in India

We just can't deny the fact that we give less preference to oral health as compared to our general health and this becomes a traditional custom continuing from our ancestors. Our elders used to visit the dentist only in case of severe deterioration of teeth or some tooth removal just if there is extreme pain and the pain becomes really unbearable and this same psychology is getting passed on from generation to generation. People don't give a shit about their dental health in our country. A kind of belief is established in the Indian subconscious that oral health isn't worthy enough to care for and maybe this is the reason why more than 70% of school children are suffering from dental caries and more than 90% of the adult population is affected by periodontal disease.

The reasons behind bad oral health:

~Excessive tobacco usage

India is the world's 2^nd largest producer of tobacco with an estimated annual production of around 800 million kgs. No doubt, if production is at such a large scale so its consumption would be on a large scale as well. There are approximately 120 million smokers in India. and India is home to 12% of the world's smokers. Such a huge amount of smokers and tobacco consumers in India. More than 10 million die each year due to tobacco in India. 

Now describing a little, tobacco is the cause of numerous oral diseases like Smoker’s Melanosis, Nicotinic Stomatitis, Gingival Recession, and even oral cancer.

Now consumption of tobacco at such a large scale and also ignoring dental health. How can this work, mate?

~Sugary food consumption

Our food and our lifestyle also affect our oral health. Tooth caries and tooth decay may result because of consuming excess sugary foods and carbonated beverages.

~Wrong brushing habits

Brushing twice a day is suggested for good oral health. Ask yourself about your regular brushing habits and routinely brushing schedule and you will get your answer whether you care for your teeth or not.

~Lack of Awareness and less development in the field of dentistry

In comparison to developed countries like the USA, France, Italy, etc, our country isn't that developed in terms of dental equipment and oral health care centers. Also, people are not very much aware of oral health. A number of people still don't know even if there exists such a branch of medicine. And maybe this would be the reason behind such neglection of oral health as well. 

What to do now?

We know the concept of oral health is not that old in our country. We are ignoring oral health for decades. Now, it's quite difficult to improve the oral health conditions of the whole country immediately. It requires time, our joint efforts i.e efforts from the dental personnel as well as from the people (patients). 

Oral health should be introduced as a basic subject so that even children come to know what exactly oral health and oral problems are. Adding more, most cases of dental caries are founded in children. So, they are needed to be more educated about their oral health.

Dental Camps should be organized at different places, especially in the backward and remote areas  so that even the people living there also gets the proper oral health facilities.

The establishment of more Oral health care centers is also needed.

Stay healthy and visit your dentist regularly.

  

BDS 1st year - a quick guide for books

 First of all, a big congratulations to the one, who is admitted in this professional course. BDS or bachelor of dental surgery is the branch of science that deals with dental health and hygiene. This goes the general definition for bds but noone tells you how a bds student have to study almost the complete human body functioning i.e physiology, biochemistry, human anatomy as well in the first year. Even I was unaware about the subjects but after going to college, I realized that we also had to study almost all subjects that an MBBS student study i.e Physiology, Anatomy and Biochemistry. But here an BDS student has an advantage and the advantage is the human anatomy i.e we don't have to study the whole human anatomy instead we are limited to the head and neck region and the neuroanatomy section only. Along with head and neck portion and neuro, we also need to know about the different visceral organs and their blood vessels, Human Embryology, Osteology as well. but these subjects are placed under Human Anatomy only.

Along with these three subjects, a dental student also studies Dental Anatomy and Dental Histology - The basic step towards the whole journey of dentistry. 

During the initial days, one don't understand everything and find it difficult to grasp everything that is taught in the college. Everything seems new and we are like having no idea what the hell we are really studying but with time, we get adapted to it.

 Human Anatomy, being the most volatile subject completely frustrate the students. Majority of students find it the most difficult subject of 1st year. I personally found it difficult but with time and with more and more focus and study, i start loving reading it. Instead I sometimes found Human Physiology more difficult. Nope, just kidding here, both these subjects are quite volatile and requires a lot of study in order to make a good hold over them.

BOOKS 

Whenever it comes to books, everyone is so much worried like they are giving NEET exam once more.No doubt, book selection is very important but there is nothing to worry about it. I personally never worried about it because I always believed books always teaches something. The only difference is the content i.e some books elaborate the things a lot and some kind of keep the content simple and short.

Now, as we had to entered into a professional course now so we have to act like the same. Here the books generally recommended are the standard books, used same worldwide.

I also preferred standard books but i also read from the books of some other Indian authors a s well. Books i had read includes;

1) Human Anatomy - BDC/ BD Chourasia

BDC is like a master book of Human Anatomy for Indian students. It's all because of the language and the way, the writer had explained the whole human anatomy. This book is best suited for all the BDS 1st year students. This book has the plus point of its simple and easily understandable language with colourful and efficiently explained flow charts.

2) Human Physiology - Guyton and Hall textbook of medical physiology.

Whenever it comes to Human physiology, the only book that comes to the mind of any medical student is Guyton and Hall. This book is considered as the bible of medical physiology.This is the standard book preferred by almost everyone for human physiology. I had studied my human physiology from this book but I had seen some reading other books as well like Essential of medical physiology by K. Sembulingam, which is also a good book. One can go with this book as well if you want something easy and quickly revisable but even though i highly recommend the first year students to surely go for Guyton and Hall, in order to build strong concepts about human physiology.

3) Biochemistry - U. Satyanarayana

U. Satyanarayana is the book, I used myself for biochemistry but I had seen students using Vasudevan as well. I personally hadn't read from Vasudevan so I cant say anything about that book here but for Satyanarayana, I'm sure that it's a good book.

4) Dental Anantomy and Dental Histology - Wheeler's and Orban's respectively

Wheelers and Orbans are the standard books for DA and DH. Both of these books are excellent to make a good hold and a perfect grip over these subjects. All concepts can be greatly built referring these books. I had studied these books in order to build my concepts but I somehow found it a little difficult in order to revise quickly from these books so I kind of preferred Maji Jose as well. In Maji Jose, everything is written in a very easy way so that it becomes very good for quick revisions. So I studied my DA and DH from these three books. I had used Maji Jose mainly for my revision purposes only.

Conclusions : I am recommending all the books from my point of experience. Different people have different tastes and choices but you can check these books and start focussing on your studies.

Good Luck!

Are White Teeth Really Healthy?

 Let's understand the reason behind the white color of our teeth first. The portion of our teeth that is visible is the Crown of the tooth. The outermost part of the crown is made of Enamel. Enamel is the thick outer layer of the crown that is mainly composed of components of Calcium. This calcium tends to be white in color hence, imparting white color to the enamel resulting in the white color of the teeth.

Beneath the enamel, there is Dentin, which is yellowish in color. With time and because of erosion of the layer of enamel, the white color of teeth starts fading away, giving a light yellow appearance to the tooth. So, the white color of teeth is because of Enamel and the yellowish appearance of teeth is due to the visibility of the layer of dentin.

White teeth and Health! ;

Whenever it comes to the health of teeth, most of us judge it by looking at the color of the tooth, "If a tooth is flashy white means the tooth is healthy and if not, they may have problems", which is not true at all. A clear white tooth may have problems and maybe unhealthy.

We cant guess the conditions of teeth just by looking at the color of the tooth. A number of problems initiate from the internal structures that aren't visible externally. These problems are the indications of bad oral health. 

Let's understand this with the help of an example of tooth decay.

 Tooth decay and various other infections may develop inside the tooth, which may not be visible with the naked eyes. Tooth decay may start in pits and fissures of teeth. One needs X-ray devices in order to locate these tooth problems.

Similarly, one can have a white pearly smile, but gums may be damaged ( i.e in unhealthy conditions ). And if gums are damaged, then white teeth are of no significance.

That's why it is suggested that one should have regular dental check-ups, enabling dentists to see if you have any signs of gum disease or some other tooth problems. These conditions can often be completely eradicated if caught early on but otherwise may soon become chronic and damage.

Dentistry - Scope and its Future.

What is Dentistry?

A branch of medicine that consists of the study, diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of diseases and disorders of the oral cavity, oral mucosa, and related structures. Different structures associated with dentistry include facial area, Temporomandibular joint, craniofacial area, and other anatomical supporting structures.

Different operations of dentistry are carried out by Dentists and Dental Auxiliaries. Dental Auxiliaries includes Dental Assistants, Dental Technicians, etc

History: Dentistry is one of the oldest medical profession. Indus Valley has yielded evidence of dentistry being practiced as far back as 7000 BC. 

In ancient Greece, Hippocrates and Aristotle wrote about dentistry, specifically about teeth decay.

Oral diseases have been a problem for humans since the beginning of time. Skulls of Cro-magnon , who inhabited 25000 years ago, that also show evidence of tooth decay.

Later progress was carried by Pierre Fauchard, commonly known as the "Father of Modern Dentistry". He rejected the idea of a tooth worm. The idea of a tooth worm is an erroneous theory of the cause of dental caries, periodontitis, and toothaches. It was supposed that the disease was caused by small worms resident within the tooth, eating it away.

Branches of Dentistry ;

• Endodontics
• Orthodontics
• Prosthodontics
• Pediatric dentistry
• Periodontics
• Oral and maxillofacial surgery
• Oral pathology
• Oral medicine

• Minimal Intervention Dentistry

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Scope and Future of Dentistry : 

Dentistry is a very important area in the whole medical field. Dentists are often the first care professionals to identify a wide variety of diseases ranging from hypertension to oral cancer.

Dentistry is a very wide field. To work as a Dentist, one can earn a degree in the following dentistry courses listed below: 

BDS - Bachelor of Dental Surgery

MDS - Master of Dental Surgery

BDS can be pursued after the 12th standard passed with PCB as mainstream.

MDS is a three-year study after under graduation BDS Courses to specialize in a particular field related to Dentistry.

Being a Dentist is a quite challenging job. It requires a complete package of skills, hard work, dedication, and patience. 

Future of Dentistry:  Like any other medical field, the future of dentistry is also on the rising side. After a professional degree, one having an interest in this field can go with the establishment of their own private dental clinics.

There is also a huge demand for dentists in the field of Cosmetic Dentistry as well.

One having an interest in teaching can also pursue teaching as the profession in the field of dentistry, guiding and building the nation of dentistry.

Other options include Dental Surgeons, Medical health practitioners, Dental hygienist, Dental therapist, etc