Georgetown : “We are tired of quackery,” said Chairman of the Dental Council, Dr Ovid Isaacs, as he revealed aggressive moves that are apace to ensure that members of the public are not subjected to substandard dental service.
According to Dr Isaacs the Council has been furnished over the course of last year and this year with a number of reports of illegal dental operations across the country. Reports, he disclosed, have emanated from the Corentyne, the West Coast and West Bank of Demerara and more recently from the East Coast of Demerara. “We even have a case where one ‘quack’ is writing about another ‘quack’ that nothing is being done about the other. One ‘quack’ actually wrote a letter to the Government complaining and the Government forwarded that letter to the Council so we have to deal with these guys.” At the moment the matter emanating from the East Coast of Demerara is still being investigated by the Council, Dr Isaacs revealed during an interview with this publication.
Quacks, according to him, are either Dentex or Dental Technicians who opt to impersonate Dentists by establishing a private practice without the supervision of a Dentist. He explained that while a Dentex is qualified to do extractions on small children filling and cleaning, Dental Technicians are not qualified enter the mouth of a patient even with the supervision of a Dentist. They are instead required to mainly specialize in making prosthetic devices such as crowns and dentures. However this has not prevented many such persons from attempting to perform the duties of a Dentist, Dr Isaacs said, even as he pointed out that “it is a very dangerous practice.” He disclosed that there have been cases where people had to be rushed to the hospital with broken jaws, severe infections and one person almost lost an eye because a ‘quack’ extracted a tooth the wrong way. However the problem that continues to face the Council is that a number of the affected persons are not willing to follow-up and “this is something that we have to deal with,” Dr Isaacs asserted.
It is for this reason, he said that the Council has not been taking such reports lightly and has been working in close collaboration with the Criminal Investigation Department of the Guyana Police Force. “The Crime Chief has been very supportive and once we are ready to move we would normally let him know and officers would accompany our enforcement team in order to facilitate arrests and seizure of equipment.” Persons found guilty of breaking the law could face from six months and upwards jail time in addition to a significant fine, according to the Dental Council Chairman.
Currently there are just 42 registered dentists, a number which allows for about one dentist per 16,000 persons. However, this is certainly not sufficient, according to Dr Isaacs who disclosed that this has since led to the introduction of a Dentistry Programme at the University of Guyana.
It was a batch of all-girls representing the first batch of students who undertook the programme and successfully graduated last year. Another batch is expected to graduate come November which is expected to further bolster the delivery of dental services, according to Dr Isaacs.
In the interim the Ministry of Health has been seeking to help improve the delivery of dental service by training a number of Dentex with a total of 10 graduating from a Dentex Programme last week.
In addressing the recent graduates Dr Isaacs categorically warned them to refrain from illegal practice pointing out that “your education has certain limitations, your training is a limited training and the training does not give you the scope to jump into deeper areas so you need to keep first and foremost in the back of your mind the extent of your training. Don’t jump into areas that you cannot get yourself out!”
He explained that the Ministry’s focus is to train personnel to provide the crucial service to the public does not in any way translate to allowing persons to engage in “quackery”.
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