Dear Readers,

In this interview series where we ask questions to people who are making a difference, it can be big, it can be small, it doesn’t matter, what matters is their contribution to our society. It can be anyone from any walk of life and from any country. Please, do send us suggestions of people whom you think we should interview for this series.

Dr. Chirag Joshi completed BDS in 2010, since then he is practicing dentistry at Raipur, Chattisgarh and Titlagarh, Odisha. He is also dental consultant at ordinance factory hospital Badmal, Odisha, he lives in Raipur and currently pursuing in MDS (Oral and maxillofacial pathology).

Following are his views on some of our questions

Tell us something about yourself?

Well, I am a dentist ( BDS, pursuing MDS  in oral pathology ) by profession . With this I am a simple guy with big aims of giving smiles to needy. ☺

Why did you choose to pursue dentistry?

According to me, every thing which we let go in our body, goes from oral cavity and in a developing country like India a huge number of population don’t take it seriously. So, just want to make a healthy India.

What are some of the serious dental problems that people don’t take seriously?

Well there are many. People don’t take any of their oral issues seriously until it bothers them in daily routine. But some of very common of them are periodontal problems , tobacco usage, and cavities.

How advanced are the dental and oral health studies in India and what would you suggest to further advance it in our country?

India advanced so much in dental studies, any advance technologies coming out in the world market come to India pretty soon. Every college, in India provides free services to patients which also helps in practice of their students and as far as advancements are concerned, India is on a good pace.

How can dental health be taken to rural and poor sections of our society? What was your experience in this regard?

In this regard, yes, I agree that many of the rural areas lack dental facilities as far as about 100 km from their area. For this every dentist or at least a group of dentists can provide some time in their weekly practice to some of the nearby areas. About my experience, me and my wife are providing 3 days of dental services a week to rural areas in the state of Odisha almost 250 km and 350 km from our places respectively.

How good are government hospitals when it comes to dentistry? What are some of the core challenges and improvement areas for these hospitals?

Our govt. has been taking huge steps on this issue. Now govt. has started appointing dentists to all the govt. hospitals. Rural areas have been benefited very much by this policy. Some challenges for providing dental facilities by govt. are huge expenses for dental setups and dentists who can provide these facilities to rural areas.

What has been your most significant contribution to this field so far?

Me and my wife work as a team for this. We have been working since past 4.5 years. We work for 7 days a week and divide time by working in our setup for 4 days and rest of 3 days in rural areas for people who are mainly farmers and construction workers on per day’s basis. Most of them are below poverty line. Beside this we provide a week of free checkup, medicines and services, twice a year without any charge. We also organize camps in old age homes, schools for mentally disabled and others. I also work as a dental consultant in ordinance factory hospital. For our work, we got best dental chain clinic award by India dental awards in 2015-16. We are the only one doing Ayurvedic tooth extraction or can say Injection-less/painless tooth extraction especially for high blood pressure and sugar patients.

How your family supports your work?

As I said earlier, I work 7 days a week. Most of the time, I am unable to provide them time or to take them out. But none of my family members complain about this. Instead, my father, who is also a social worker, always encourages me in my efforts.

What are your plans for future in this field, research, practice or academia?

We are trying our best to provide more and more facilities to the needy. We are taking seminars for different age groups starting from kids, adolescent, pregnant women and old age residents etc. We are planning to increase knowledge and awareness about dental health, stop tobacco campaign and fluoride application for poor kids and many others.

 10.Your message for our readers?

It was a great experience sharing my dental experience with you all. Please don’t take any of your dental or oral health issues lightly. As our complete body depends on thing we eat and bacteria present in mouth affects directly to our complete health increasing risk of miscarriages, heart and digestion problems. Only eating healthy won’t help you. You have to keep your oral health too so that what you eat should go to your body in a healthy way. Be healthy and always keep smiling.