THE DENTAL NIRVANA FOR NON RESIDENT INDIANS 

The dental niravana

Wisdom lies in getting tooth extracted in India
TIMES NEWS NETWORK [ TUESDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2002 01:56:05 AM ] www.timesofindia.com

AHMEDABAD: Their heart aches to be back in India but it is tooth-ache that is drawing a lot of NRIs back to Ahmedabad. Unbelievable it may sound, but many NRIs would rather catch a home-bound plane to get rid of their dental woes than pay for prohibitively expensive treatment abroad.

Anil and Ramilaben Patel, an elderly couple settled in London, flew down to the city recently to get a set of brand new dentures at the Government Dental College (GDC). And why not? They got the treatment done, stretched over a period of one month, in Rs 700 flat. The same, they say, would have costed them nothing less than 5,000 UK pounds (roughly Rs 3.75 lakh)!

"Things could not have been more economical. Not only did we get the treatment done for almost free but also got an opportunity to catch up with family members by spending a small amount on to and fro airfare," says Anil Patel.

Dr Kartik Shah, dean of the GDC, where an average 350 patients come for dental treatment every day, confesses: "Dental treatment is prohibitively expensive in the US, the UK and other countries and most Gujaratis settled abroad cannot afford the heavy premiums for getting insurance for the same. For most, the easiest option is to make a trip homewards."

Every year, scores NRIs take dental treatment in the city, especially between October-January, when they normally home in for festivities and marriages. "Every year, around 300 NRIs come to get their teeth treated in various private and government hospitals," concedes Dr Ramesh Mahadevia.

The reasons are borne out by sheer economics. Take the extraction of the wisdom tooth. This would burn a hole at $400 (Rs 20,000 approx). The same would cost up to Rs 2,000 in a private hospital and a measly Rs 50 ($1) in a government hospital.

By these standards, getting a denture is almost unthinkable. A set of mediocre denture would cost nothing less than Rs 1 lakh abroad. The best in private hospital would cost Rs 5,000 and Rs 100 in a government hospital.

Interestingly here, once back home, many NRG would rather not go to the private hospitals but make a beeline at the government hospitals instead, where maximum fee charged does not exceed beyond Rs 350 for the most elaborate routine dental treatments.

"NRGs usually come during the festive and marriage season. We receive at least a couple of NRI patients everyday during this season," says head of the conservative dentistry at the Dental Hospital Dr Girish Parmar.

Parmar says that the fact that foreign doctors will not give an immediate appointment is also a factor. "The doctors abroad would reportedly give appointments for a tooth-extraction six months later. By that time, the tooth would rot and fall on its own," quips Parmar who recently treated a mother-son duo from Australia for root-canal.

Doctors say that there is a steady rush of wannabe immigrants too who would rather get their teeth cleaned, bridged and capped before leaving for foreign shores

Wot Jamie, do you want to become Indian or do you think they will accept you for dental treatment even though you are a foreigner ?