World Class Dental Education and Training in remote rural India

The Deen Dayal Research Institute is set up in Chitrakoot, one of the poorest regions in India on the Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh border. It was the brain child of the late Nanaji Deshmukh, an iconic figure who devoted his life to the “uplifting of the poor” as noted by the Ex-Indian President, Abdul Kalam. The philosophy of the research institute was simple yet profound, “Campaign for Self – Reliance”. Within the institute Dr Naresh Sharma, a specialist from Heckmondwike, set up a Dental facility to serve the poor of the nearby villages, almost 20 years ago. The dental facility developed from a single surgery to four and a mobile clinic to serve the community and surrounding villages. The clinics are set up to UK standards with help and support from various organisations including King’s College London Dental Institute, The London Dental Education Centre (LonDec), Coltene, Prestige and the AOG organisation. The venue was a very popular destination for electives for King’s College London clinical students and usually a group of about 6 or 7 accompanied by myself, visited the centre every year around 2006 through to 2008.

Patients present to the clinics, often having walked for over a day, with a variety of dental and facial issues and are either treated there at the centre or referred to specialist centres in larger cities. A team of oral surgeons from the UK visit regularly to train local dentists and oral surgeons in the treatment and management of Cleft lip and Palate patients as well as burn victims. Training for the resident dentists in prosthodontics, endodontic and restorative dentistry is also provided by experts visiting from the UK and the local team is very ably led by Dr Varun Gupta the in-house head of the department.