Why Oral Care is very low...

In a recent conclave of Indian Dental Association which has more than 75000 members across the country, they had lamented that "Oral Care" has reached only less than 20% of India. They have vowed to improve this through their dedicated service. It set me thinking, why there is such a low penetration of " Oral Care". I have had a personal experience to understand this. I had severe pain in one of my tooth and approached a Dentist for consultation and remedy. 

She immediately asked me to take a OPG Xray and then meet her. I did so. She looked at the Xray and suggested 3 Root Canal treatment, two extraction and 3 implants. I thought highly of her service up to this stage. So caring and giving all the details in one go looking at one Xray.

She suggested I undergo the treatment as suggested and be rid of the excruciating pain. I agreed. She brought one expert for Root Canal and he went about drilling my teeth and filling. Within a few minutes another expert in extraction came and removed the teeth (2) and he was followed by an implant expert who screwed the implant into my Jaw. I had a swollen face and was given shot of pain killer to bear the pain.

I thought every other issue will now be resolved without realising it has just started. Yes, the bill was shown to me. It was Rs. 1,20,000/- as advance for the treatment up to this point. The balance will have to be paid after 3 months when the implant procedure is complete. Its not all, the Crown for the teeth has to be paid for. It comes in multiple varieties starting from Rs. 6500/- to Rs. 25,000/- per crown. Thats to cost another 75,000/-. In total to get Oral Care I had to pay Rs. 2,35,000/-.

Now I understood, why the penetration of Oral Care is as low as below 20%