Toothless dental unit

An assistant holds a light while a doctor examines a patient at the dental unit of CMCH.. PHOTO: STAR

The unit is the lone government centre for providing dental service to the people of greater Chittagong,

The unit which offers only outdoor service, lacks modern apparatus as well as essential drugs like painkillers and anti-biotics required during treatment.

It deprives thousands of people, who turn up at the unit of the state run hospital, of dental services like scaling, fill-in, crowning and root canal treatments.

The poor patients are forced to buy medicine and get the X-ray done from outside.

The authorities blame lack of equipment, manpower and funds for the miserable state of the unit.

One surgeon assisted by two internees and two technicians man the dental unit at Ward No. 7 beside the out-door of Paediatric Department of the hospital.

There are three doctors' rooms, one classroom, one diagnosis room, one x-ray room, one Operation Theatre (OT) and one technician room.

The x-ray room is lying idle for months, reportedly due to lack of technicians.

Dr Tyeb Sikdar, lone dental surgeon who is also the in-charge of the department, said the x-ray machine might go out of order since it is rusting in absence of technicians.

The OT is equipped with four age-old chairs procured around some 30 years ago.

One of the chairs is already out of order while three others need a great physical force for moving up and down in manual system, sources said.

In absence of Auto-clubbing System, sterilising of the apparatus used in the OT, is done with boiling water that hardly destroys the germs.

The outdoor department of the unit has been running out of drugs for the last few months, they said.

According to sources, two of the three posts of dental surgeons, created during Pakistan period, have been lying vacant for nearly two and a half years.

It forces Dr Tayeb Sikder to work at the consultation room as well as at the OT. He has to attend about 100 patients single-handedly everyday.

Talking to this correspondent, Dr Sikder said usually the patients with aching teeth are prescribed for scaling or given painkillers. If the teeth develop cavity or have the enamel decayed then require treatments like fill-in, root canal treatment or crowning.

Dental treatment of modern age does not support plucking unless teeth are totally damaged and incurable, he said.

"But, offering such treatment is not possible here due to the shortage of manpower, logistics and drugs," he said.

Sources said the authorities took an initiative to offer modern dental treatments on payment of minimum cost at the hospital.

Under the initiative the unit was to conduct fill-in at Tk 50 as against Tk 200 by a private practitioner and offer root canal treatment for Tk 500 as against Tk 1500 outside.

But, the decision is be implemented, they said.

The miserable state of the unit causes untold sufferings to the patients who have to wait in long queue with aching teeth for hours.

Salam, a rickshawpuller who collected a ticket after a great hassle, was seen waiting along with his six-year-old daughter in the long queue at the outdoor.

"We have been waiting for over four hours since the morning and but we don't know whether we will have the call or not," he said.