Journal of Indian Association of Public Health Dentistry

PRESIDENTS MESSAGE
Year
: 2017  |  Volume : 15  |  Issue : 3  |  Page : 197-

President's message


MB Aswath Narayanan 
 President, IAPHD, Mathuram, Plot No. 161, Door No. 5, Murugu Nagar, 5th Street, Velachery, Chennai - 600 042, Tamil Nadu, India

Correspondence Address:
M B Aswath Narayanan
President, IAPHD, Mathuram, Plot No. 161, Door No. 5, Murugu Nagar, 5th Street, Velachery, Chennai - 600 042, Tamil Nadu
India




How to cite this article:
Aswath Narayanan M B. President's message.J Indian Assoc Public Health Dent 2017;15:197-197


How to cite this URL:
Aswath Narayanan M B. President's message. J Indian Assoc Public Health Dent [serial online] 2017 [cited 2024 Mar 28 ];15:197-197
Available from: https://journals.lww.com/aphd/pages/default.aspx/text.asp?2017/15/3/197/215056


Full Text



Warm greetings,

I was reminded of my childhood when I visited the theater last week. It was an electrifying feeling when the National Anthem was played and the boisterous crowd suddenly became silent and patriotic - A small gesture in day-to-day living which makes us take ownership of our country. In schools when it is played, every student feels a rush of adrenaline at the thought of Mother India making him feel like a superman willing to give his life for his country.

I guess, we need one such slogan for all Oral Health Workers (Dental Surgeons, Dental Hygienists, Dental Technicians, Dental Operating room auxiliary) to take ownership of oral health care in our country. When every one of the dental graduates (25,000/year) and postgraduates (6000/year) who pass out of the portals of the dental institutions every year starts feeling that the oral health status of India depends on their handiwork, we come closer to an oral disease free India.

It is the duty of every public health dentist to kindle such a thought in our undergraduates when they take the subject. A strong feeling of empathy for suffering, the untold opportunities of prevention and simple day-to-day changes in lifestyle which can cause more good than expensive curative and fanciful options, must be nailed into the greenheads.

The ultimate aim of the medical profession must be to eliminate the need for its own existence.

Jai Hind.

Wishing you all everlasting health.