Department
Public Health Dentistry
Dental care in the community: camps, schools and villages around the college.
About the department
Public Health Dentistry is the science and practice of preventing oral disease and promoting oral health in communities rather than in individual patients. It studies how common oral diseases are and what causes them, and plans, carries out and evaluates programmes that bring prevention and care to people who might otherwise go without.
The department teaches undergraduate students epidemiology, biostatistics, preventive dentistry and the organisation of dental services. It runs the college’s dental camps and school programmes in the villages and towns around the college, where students examine and treat patients and learn how dental care reaches a community.
Treatments offered
- Dental campsFree check-ups and simple treatment in villages and towns.
- School programmesCheck-ups and tooth-brushing lessons for schoolchildren.
- Fluoride and sealantsProtects children's teeth from decay, at schools and camps.
- Simple fillings at campsFillings done on the spot, without a drill, where needed.
- Tobacco cessationHelp and counselling to quit tobacco.
- Referral to the collegePatients who need more treatment are brought to the college.
Many people in the villages around the college have never seen a dentist. We take care to them through dental camps and school programmes, and teach our students to look past the single patient, to the oral health of a whole community.
Dr. R. Yashwanth SaiHead of Department