He is a Pedodontist (Pediatric) dentist and dental surgeon of three decades standing. On taking over as president of Chandigarh state branch of Indian Dental Association for a three-year tenure, Dr RP Gupta, who runs the practice Gupta’s Dental & Orthodontic Centre in Sector 22, says promoting preventive dentistry will remain his top priority
With dentistry becoming expensive by the day, Dr Gupta emphasises that the way out is to promote basic dentistry facilities in every neighbourhood on the lines of ‘mohalla clinics’ concept in Delhi.
Photos By : Life In Chandigarh
In an interview with LifeInChandigarh.com, Dr Gupta said the biggest challenge in his speciality of pediatric dentistry is sensitisation of pregnant women on how to feed their infants and toddlers.
“Decaying of the upper four front teeth is a very common problem among the infants with 25-30% mothers coming to us with complaints of their infants suffering acute pain, having swelling of the gums or even puss formation in that area. The most common reason for this condition is children falling asleep while being fed on milk from a bottle, resulting in the nipple remaining in the mouth of the child far longer than desirable. The milk itself being sticky, and with added sugar at times, it leads to infections,” he added.
Advertisement
Dr Gupta felt that awareness about this is woefully lacking and restoration in infants becomes all the more difficult for a dentist, who is left with no other option than to resort to general anaesthesia. Involving anaesthetists in more than one sitting, required in such cases, becomes a major constraint, he said, adding that even in the PGI Chandigarh has devoted a day every week when an anaesthetist is made available at dental clinics to perform such procedures.
Teeth Start Developing In Unborn Baby
- rn
- Teeth start developing in the unborn baby. Good nutrition from the mother during pregnancy is important in tooth development. The mother’s diet should have adequate amounts of calcium, phosphorus, vitamin C, and vitamin D.
- After the child is born, the next stage occurs when the tooth actually sticks out (protrudes) through the gum.
- Even though baby teeth are eventually replaced with permanent teeth, keeping baby teeth healthy is important to a child’s overall health and well-being.
rn
rn
rn
rn
Dr Gupta felt that oral health is a neglected domain, and there is a need to continue spreading awareness in society. During his tenure, he and his team plan to organise various public awareness programs for promoting oral health, especially among government schools, blind schools, old age homes, transport workers, etc.
IDA, he asserted, is committed to continuing education for students as well as practicing dentists in Chandigarh, for which they will be rolling out extensive activitiers spread out throughout the year.
About Dr Gupta
A Pedodontist (Pediatric) dentist & dental surgeon of three decades standing, Dr Gupta is an alumnus of PGI Chandigarh. He served as a Senior Dental Surgeon in Sector 16 Government Multi Speciality Hospital, Chandigarh for 10 years. A member of American Academy of Dental Association, as also of International College of Dentists, he has been honoured with fellowship of PFA (Pierre Fauchard Academy) and ICD (International College of Dentistry). He is a life member of Indian Society Pediatric Dentistry.
Other Office Bearers
Dr Arpit Gupta, Assistant Professor, Oral Health Sciences Centre, PGI Chandigarh, has been elected Honorary Secretary for a three-year term.
Other members elected to the executive committee are : Dr K Gauba, Dr Ashima Goyal, Dr SP Singh, Dr (Lt Col) BR Pruthi, Dr Sachin Rai, Dr Ashish Gupta, Dr Sanjeev Verma, Dr Varun Bajaj, Dr Sammardeep Singh Sodhi, Dr Aman Bhatia, Dr Shipra Gupta, Dr Gursharandeep Singh, Dr Vijeta Mehta, Dr Sujata Malik, Dr Jatinder Singh Thind, Dr Jagdeep Kaur, Dr Vidya Rattan, Dr Gurvinder S Dhamija, Dr Gurvanit Kaur Lehl, Dr Devinder Kumar, Dr Aditi Kapur and Dr Gunjan Pruthi.
LifeInChandigarh.com by APR Media House is an enjoyable digital reading startup, which keeps you abreast of the latest meaningful happenings of interest to large sections of folks in Chandigarh tricity, and expats from the region. It has been promoted by a public spirited senior journalist and media consultant with a view to encourage good quality and healthy journalism, a dire need of the times.
To keep in touch, drop an email or call :
kochhar.apr@gmail.com
9815617676