Dental Council of India plans crackdown on services employing unqualified personnel as dentists

New Delhi: The Dental Council of India (DCI) is planning to turn the screws on individuals working as dentists without the necessary medical qualifications and clinics employing such people after growing complaints.

More and more businesses are offering dental care in the country, which has one of the highest number of dentists in the world at 270,000 registered with the DCI.

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Legal action ordered

The dentist body has directed state dental councils to take legal action against any individual or business found to violate the Dentists Act of 1948 and the updated Dentists (Code of Ethics) Regulations of 2014  and to immediately issue cease and desist orders. 

There is no documentation indicating that the DCI or state councils have taken any action against such busin4sses previously.

"The regulator has instructed states to increase public awareness about the hazards associated with having dental procedures from unlicensed practitioners and has mandated that a thorough report of the action taken and outcomes achieved be given to it within 30 days. Using "untrained and unregistered personnel to carry out dental services" is one of the DCI's recognized infractions," said an official aware of the matter.

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The DCI informed state dental councils last week that it had noticed some clinics are providing dental treatments, teeth scanning and aligner services at patients' homes.

“These services are reportedly being carried out by individuals who are not registered as dentists with the respective state dental councils,” the DCI’s order stated.

Stress on code of ethics

It said unregistered practitioners put patient safety and professional standards at risk.

“The protection of patient health and the maintenance of professional standards are of utmost priority," it added.

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The move was welcomed by dentists.

"This is a good move and a check should be done on untrained dentists offering the service. This will save the image of dentistry. There are a bunch of new services that are emerging under dentistry which are kind of cosmetic services and seeing quite a demand among people," said Dr Rahul Singh, Dentist, GIMS, Greater Noida.