Chennai: “Statistics reveal over 5,000 seats in dental science at the UG level are vacant out of a total of 26,600 seats,” said Dr Dibyendu Mazumder, president of Dental Council of India, while inaugurating the international conference, convocation and symposium of the International College of Dentists (ICD)-Section VI on Saturday.
Addressing the gathering, Dr Dibyendu Mazumder added, “The Dental Council of India has requested the Chief Ministers of the country to appoint dental surgeons in primary health centres. Professor Dr. S.M.Balaji, who represented the Indian section of ICD, comprising Nepal and Sri Lanka too, said, “Around 60 professionals will take oath in the convocation on Sunday to be a part of the collegium based on their service and paper publications.”
The symposium on dental education in India - past, present and future, had an array of international and national speakers talking about dental science and its importance at the grassroots level. The officials also talked about a proposal submitted to the government to introduce new courses offering dual degrees - BDS and MBBS - enabling students to practise both when required, especially in primary health centres.
