Speech by the President of India, Shri Pranab Mukherjee at the presentation of first copies of the books “Colour Atlas of Oral Implantology” and “Conservative Dentistry – basics”

New Delhi,May 29, 2017 : I am indeed very happy to be amidst this august gathering of distinguished dental professionals, academicians and research scholars and to receive the first copies of these two books – Color Atlas of Oral implants and Conservative Dentistry – Basics. At the outset, let me congratulate the authors of both these books Dr. Praful Bali, Dr. Lanka Mahesh, Dr. Dildeep Bali and Dr. Deepika Chandhok for their efforts in writing these two publications.

Dentistry as a whole has grown by leaps and bounds over the past few decades and dental awareness has started spreading across India. All this has been possible due to the hard work and commitment of the dental fraternity. But, inspite of so many dentists graduating every year, there is still a dearth of health care professionals and dental surgeons. India being heavily populated country and in rural India, the local population lacks basic knowledge on dental cases and thus indulge in habits and practices, harmful for oral health. As responsible trained and qualified individuals, people like all of you are needed to deliver oral health to the community. I would encourage each one of you to step out of your comfort zone and serve in hinterland. The quantum of work required to be done in this field is huge. Unless citizens enjoy good health, their productive potential cannot be realized fully and this puts pressure on us to provide good dental care where its most needed.

The standards of oral and dental health are challenging in the Indian sub-continent. Most people are ignorant of the significance of oral health and its impact on general health. Oral diseases and tooth decay are considered a part of aging process and ignored by large number of people. To my mind, dentists are the custodian of oral health in the country. They have a very important role to play to raise awareness of the need and reach out to the masses, especially in the rural area.

Dental issues affect 70-75% of our children and gum diseases affect nearly 90% of the entire population. Oral cancer is also one of the major health challenges of the 21st century and India is also facing the challenge of treatment and prevention of this disease.

Having said that, I am happy to know that advances in dental treatment technologies and research are making dentistry a technology driven discipline. In this ever-changing world one needs to update oneself by learning newer technologies and make its apt use in clinical practice.

Dentistry has also attained new level of excellence in India today and we are witnessing revolutionary changes in dental technology. Latest technology has improved all aspects, from diagnosis to patient comfort, to good effective dental care and better prognosis. I am sure the two books which I have received today will be helpful for dental students, fresh dentists and experienced ones alike.

The color atlas – authored by Dr. Praful Bali and Dr. Lanka Mahesh focuses on advanced procedures performed by the authors in the field of dental implantology. I am told that the cases are very well documented and I am sure budding and experienced dentists in this field will surely have a lot to gain from this book.

Unlike the Color Atlas, the other book titled Conservative dentistry – Basics, focuses on the basic fundamentals of the subject, with a lot of text, clinical pictures, and schematic diagrams for better understanding of students.

Smile is a universal language and I am glad that you all play a vital role in bringing real smiles on faces of people. This is how Dr. Bali, has made me to smile & masticate my food properly.

I once again congratulate the authors for bringing out the said books. I also congratulate Dr. R.K. Bali and Dr. Mazumder for their continuous and untiring efforts in providing dental care to the farthest of regions in India.

Thank you.

Jai Hind.