THE FUTURE OF DENTISTRY IN 2020 AND BEYOND WRITTEN BY dR.rAJAT
sACHDEVA
I
thought I’d share a few interesting facts/predictions that I came across whilst
researching.
The
exposure towards treating diseased individual over a growing population – Over
the next 20 years the population in India is predicted to grow by 1.252 billion
to just over 1.454 billion. The number of Indians over the age of 60 years has hit an
all-time high, accounting for 8.6 per cent of the country’s population.
Based on statistics we would be treating an ageing population – Today almost 1
in 15 people over 60 years old and by 2020 it would be 1 in 5 people above 60
years with an overall grow in population. We will be treating an increasingly
diverse population – By 2030, ethnic populations will make 30% of the population of
India.There will be an increase in the
number of dentists – India currently has 309
dental colleges, which churn out around 26,000 dentists every year as compared
to only 8,000 dental students graduated annually in year 1970. It is now,
however, estimated that there will be a surplus of more than 1 lakh dentists in
India by 2020. The dentists: population ratio of India, on date is 1:
10,000. However, the reality is that; in rural India 1 dentist is serving over
a population of 2,50,000. Thus, the real picture is not that simple as it
seems. As, we are about step into the next decade, there lies an urgent need to
analyze the dental work force for many underserved groups of the country that
do not have any access to oral health care.We will be treating less caries or moderate
periodontitis but more tooth wear and more peri-implant disease.We will be
treating a population with increasing socio-economic inequalities – Men and
women in the highest socio-economic class can, on average, expected to live
just over 5-6 years longer than those in the low socio-economic state. There
will be an obvious increase in focus on value and impact on quality of life
with more expectation over results. Dental professionals will be working in
multidisciplinary teams and promoting the importance of oral health for general
health. With every passing year there has been
surge in proportion of female dentists with about 5% in last 5 years, a trend
which is expected to continue. In the recent years, female students
outnumber male students in getting admitted in dental colleges( like 60- 70% of
the seats are occupied by girls).Although only 30% are practically converted
into private practitioners.A growing propoprtion
of female dentists will work part-time according to the research.The use
of virtual reality will be constitutive to dental practice. Google glass
integrated with Dental
Loupes can
become next best tool for dentists. Technology such as CAD/CAM, lasers and
perhaps even robotics may be routinely used in practice.The evolution of
materials would continue with bioactive,bone regenerative materials reproducing
some compelling results.The impact of smart phones and social media will
continue to grow for both dental professionals and patients.
For
More Information Visit Our Website: www.sachdevadentalcare.com
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