HYDERABAD: Dental professionals across Telangana are urging the state government to establish dental departments and fully functional dental units in all government medical colleges. This call aligns with the National Medical Council (NMC) guidelines, which require every medical college offering 100 MBBS seats to include a dedicated department of dentistry with a minimum of eight faculty members.
As per the NMC’s recently released provisional seat count for undergraduate and postgraduate medical courses, Telangana has 36 government medical colleges. Out of these, at least 28 have an intake of 100 or more MBBS students. Despite this, only Osmania Medical College (OMC) and Gandhi Medical College (GMC) currently have dentistry departments in place. A senior official from the Directorate of Medical Education (DME) confirmed to The Times of India that no other government medical colleges in the state have the required dental faculty or infrastructure.
The All India Dental Students & Surgeons Association (AIDSA) has formally submitted a request to the DME, urging the government to implement the NMC directive. Dr. M.D. Manzur, national president of AIDSA, emphasized the importance of integrating dental departments into government medical colleges for comprehensive clinical training.
“Several newly graduated postgraduate dental students have also reached out to us with concerns,” said Dr. Manzur.
“Opening dental departments will not only help students develop the skills to diagnose and treat oral health issues but also provide much-needed employment opportunities in a field where job availability is already limited.”
Dr. Manzur pointed out that the Gazette of India notifications released in July 2015 and March 2017 also reinforce the NMC’s mandate regarding dental education.
Under NMC guidelines, each medical college with a dental department should employ a professor, associate professor, assistant professor, junior residents, and a storekeeper-cum-clerk. Additionally, each unit must have four dental technicians to ensure functionality. Currently, Telangana has just one government dental college, located in Afzalgunj, Hyderabad. This institution is presently dealing with ongoing issues related to admissions and counseling.
A member of the Telangana Dental Council added that setting up dental departments in various colleges would also serve the broader public, especially in rural areas, by offering accessible and affordable dental care.
“Recruiting dentists at primary health care centers is equally important to improve overall oral health in the population,” the council member noted.
Responding to the requests, a DME official stated that the proposal is under consideration and that any final decision will be made by higher authorities within the department.
