Vatsalya Dental, the chain of multi-specialty dental centre has partnered with The University of Western Australia. As part of this partnership, students and dentists will be provided with a platform to conduct research, produce white papers, work on innovations and undergo various other exchange programmes.
 
According to a recent report published in the Journal of Dental Education, there is a greater need to focus on pediatric dentistry as 32.7 per cent of the Indian population is in the age group of zero to fourteen years. Despite this, India trains only 9 per cent of the total specialists in pediatric dentistry. To add to this, lack of proper technology and infrastructure has further restricted the growth in this space.
 
Oral healthcare among children is a foremost requirement for a healthy growth and wellbeing. In fact, westernized diets and excess sugar consumption have increased dental caries in infants and children, exposing them to multiple other healthcare issues at a very early age.
 
Vatsalya Dental with this partnership aims to address all these challenges by shifting the focus from treatment to prevention and making pediatric dentistry more research and innovation oriented.
 
During this program, dentists from Vatsalya will go to Australia, once in 6 months, for a period of 2-3 weeks to collaborate with the faculty and students at the university. Students from the University will also visit Vatsalya Dental on an annual basis to learn & get a first-hand account of Pediatric Dentistry & understand the usage of International treatment methods & technology. The students will be trained at Vatsalya's Incubation Centre on various topics of Pediatric Dentistry and be part of their community building programmes
 
The priority will be to come up with preventive and sustainable dental practices that will have a considerable impact on the general health and quality of life.
 
“We  want to provide accessible opportunities to individuals who are not only keen to improve their clinical skills and knowledge, but also collaborate and come up with innovations for the betterment of the healthcare industry, said Dr Robert, Chair of Department, Pediatric Dentistry, University of Western Australia.
 
Pediatric dentistry is a neglected aspect of childcare. Dental caries can affect a child physically, socially and psychologically as well. It can lead to pain and suffering, including difficulty in sleeping, improper growth and development, poor self-esteem, social isolation, infections, eating troubles, and inadequate nutrition among others.

 “We intend to nurture the minds of young dentists to think progressively and innovate in the process of learning. The idea is to shift the focus from treatment to innovation and prevention and thereby bring best global practices to India. This partnership will ensure a focused approach to tackle oral issues in children; by exchanging knowledge, research papers and developing innovative methods and treatment process, said Dr Srivats Bharadwaj, Founder and CEO, Vatsalya Dental.