The rural areas of Karnataka is deprived of oral health care as dentists in the State prefer to work in the urban areas where more than 80 per cent of the dentists are serving 30 per cent of the population. The dental population ratio of 1:44,056 in the 1980s had vastly changed in the past two decades.

The dental care wing in the department of health and family welfare required reorienting and streamlining procedures, as the infrastructure is inadequate. The number of sanctioned posts of dentists to the State government service was only 201. Surprise visits by the Karnataka task force on health and family welfare revealed that dental units at the district level even lacked equipment to treat patients.

In a blue print on the need to improve dental health care especially in rural areas, the task force has urged the authorities to take up a State level survey of oral diseases and streamline the administration of dental clinics in the districts, besides introducing a oral healthcare programme as an integral part of the health promotion.

The services rendered at the primary health centres and the district level clinics are mainly teeth extraction and minor surgery. Even where facilities for permanent restoration and prophylaxis are available they are not offered to the public due to non-functioning of units and irregular supply of permanent restoration material, informed Dr. H Sudarshan, chief of Task Force on health and family welfare, government of Karnataka.

It has been noted by the Task Force that preventive measures including oral health education are not given importance in government clinics. There was also no full-time person at the Directorate of Health Services to co-ordinate the activities.

Dr. Sudarshan also suggested to the State government to make oral health care promotion a part of the school health programme.

Four kinds of oral diseases are common in the State. About 90 per cent of the population are found to be afflicted with periodontal disease, which results in early loss of teeth. Dental caries is another disease, which affects children below 12 years and is found in 70 per cent of them. The other disease is oral cancer. Fluorosis is found mostly in North Karnataka, Kolar, and parts of Tumkur districts. The government of Karnataka on the recommendations of the Task Force on health and family welfare has suggested that the best remedy for Fluorosis was the supply of potable water; defluoridation and water from wells, which does not contain high fluoride.

A significant finding of the task force was that the number of dentists coming out of the 41 dental colleges in the State was increasing. Of the 41 colleges in the state 40 were private. Most of them offered BDS course and some MDS as well. The total intake of students was 1,552 every year and the facilities including faculty were not up to the mark.

In recent years many dental seats in colleges remained unfilled. The task force has also dwelt on the system of auxiliary training for oral hygienists and dental laboratory technicians offered by the Government Dental College and as well as some private institutions. "There should be a stress on quality for the two year course," said Dr. Sudarshan.

Referring to the collection of fee in government dental units, the task force suggested that this should be for those who were not in a position to pay and school children should get free treatment.
The task force also called for survey of dental diseases in the state and taking up research projects on dental caries, oral cancer fluorosis and periodontal diseases.