Bengaluru :
A public-spirited dentist is taking oral health care to the doorsteps of people. Dr Srivats Bharadwaj and his team of 15 doctors are also on a mission to make people aware of the importance of paying attention to oral health.
At Vatsalya – Centre for Oral Health, experts have been providing care to individuals with no access or awareness about the same. Over the years, the team has conducted campaigns, workshops and camps in the villages, towns and cities of Karnataka. Vatsalya focuses on three areas — home care, clinical care and community health.
“We are on a mission to give world class treatment on a par with the West or even better,” explains Dr Srivats.
Recently, the team treated 450 children at government schools in Bengaluru. Its community initiatives began at Chittadhama near Kabini in H D Kote, at a centre for the mentally ill, where patients needed urgent help in oral health care.
The team carried a portable dental unit that fits into a suitcase and can do everything, including scanning and drilling. Similar camps took the team to Chikkamagaluru and Tumakuru, besides old age homes and orphanages in Bengaluru.
In 2013, the team adopted Kudur village in Tumakuru district to run a regular oral health care programme. Socare, an organisation that looks after indigent children of convicts, roped the team for a camp.
Dr Srivats has been treating children with cardiac problems for the past 5 years who need dental care, and the initiative is supported by ENR Foundation, Germany. The 41st group of children visited Vatsalya this month and over 25 children were treated before their heart surgery. More than 500 under privileged children have got a new lease of life under this initiative.
“Oral health is a window to one’s overall health, and my idea is to drive home this point. Our focus is on prevention as tooth decay and other problems can lead to multiple organ failure and 120 other health conditions,” he explains.
Drilling, filling and billing is what dentists do today, Dr Srivats says. “Dentists are seen in a poor light when they advocate procedures that are unnecessary and expensive. They don’t advise sealant medicine for children below 18 for the prevention of tooth decay. I am launching a Seal India prevention and interventional programme as it can keep the problem at bay for 20 years,” he adds.
Vatsalya has two centres in Bengaluru and is opening the third in Rajajinagar. In the coming days, the team hopes to spread its activities to Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh and Pakistan.
“We are not aligning with venture funds but are definitely looking at contributors with a social commitment,” says Dr Srivats.
The aim is to set up community health centres not funded by the government “We hope to make a huge difference in the coming years,” he says.
source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Cities> Bengaluru / by Meera Bharadwaj / July 31st, 2016