Assam Governor JB Patnaik on Saturday stressed the need for more dental colleges in the State, saying that dental health services in the country was grossly inadequate and that it was more pronounced in the North-east.
Patnaik said this while inaugurating the 43rd Annual Dental Conference organized by the Assam Branch of Indian Dental Association (ABIDA) at the NEDFi Convention Centre.
In his inaugural speech, the Governor said that a person’s health was the strongest indicator of the overall health and well-being of the person and that maintenance of oral hygiene was essential for maintaining sound health.
Adding humour to his speech, Patnaik said, “A beautiful damsel is generally described by poets as having pearl-like teeth or comparable to the pomegranate seeds. Unhealthy and ugly teeth makes a man feel inferior to others. On the other hand, if a person’s teeth are strong, healthy and chalk-white, it enhances the beauty of the face. If you defeat or demolish a person in an argument, you can say ‘Main unka daat tod diya.’ If an argument is not convincing, you can say it is a toothless argument…”
Patnaik added that modern dentistry was far advanced in the treatment of oral diseases and the dentist enjoys great demand in the urban and the rural areas.
While congratulating and welcoming the dental surgeons of the State to the conference, the Governor assured that he would extend every possible help to the dentist fraternity to solve their problems, and asked them to meet him in a small delegation and hand over a memorandum on their problems.
At the beginning of the inaugural session, the president of ABIDA, Dr C Kalita delivered the welcome address while its secretary J Barman read out its report of activities.
Dr BR Bhuyan, chief adviser of the conference and president of the organizing committee also addressed the gathering.
