MANGALORE Sept 22: Major General (retired) P.N. Awasthi, Secretary of the Dental Council of India, expressed concern over the commercialisation of the profession of dentistry.

Speaking at the Graduation Day ceremony of the A.B. Shetty Memorial Institute of Dental Sciences on Monday, Mr. Awasthi said that the dental science was facing a major crisis in the country because most dentists were remorselessly pursuing commercial interests. "There is hardly any research or serious teaching happening in the field,” he said.

Problem of pleanty

Blaming the commercialisation on the disproportionate number of students taking to dentistry, he said: "Over 70,000 dentists graduate each year. There are too many dental graduates against too few jobs.”

Pointing out that the urban areas had reached saturation levels, Mr. Awasthi advised students to move to rural areas and reach out to the masses there.

The armed forces, where, he said he had spent the best years of his life, offered a glorious career for dentists and other medical professionals. Private practice could not match the armed forces either in exposure or in infrastructure, he said. "When I joined the forces as a young Lieutenant, my starting salary was Rs. 480 a month. But today, the basic salary for starters is Rs. 30,000 a month, in addition to perks,” he said while advising the fresh graduates not to look at their lives and careers through a narrow perspective. "Despite proliferation of dentists in the industry, there is still place for skilled personnel with right attitude,” he said.

Hindu