A Diligent Analysis on Dental Education and Manpower in the Southern States and Union Territories of India

Background: South India is the region incorporating the Indian states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Telangana and the union territories Pondicherry and Goa. Out of the total 313 dental institutes in India, about 135 colleges are situated in its southern states and union territories. The uneven distribution of institutes between states and union territories has led to lack of proper oral care to people and unemployment among dental graduates. AIM: This study aimed to analyse the current situation of dentistry in the south Indian states and union territories. Methodology: A thorough literature search was done to retract all the articles relating to Dental education and institutes in south Indian States. Information from the website of Dental Council of India, other state Dental Council, NITI Aayog was retracted. Main databases such as PubMed, Scopus, and Cochrane etc. were also searched to obtain the information. Results: Most of the dental colleges i.e. about 48 are present in Karnataka. There are more private than government dental colleges in every south Indian state. In Karnataka there are 3413 undergraduate and 1170 postgraduate seats which is the highest. About 60 dental colleges were established during the year 2001-2010. In Goa there is only one dental college present. In Andhra Pradesh and Pondicherry there are no government seats available in the specialities of Pedodontics, Orthodontics, Oral pathology and Public Health Dentistry. In case of Telangana, the dentist population ratio is 1:35158. In the case of Pondicherry, for a population of 0.4% there are about 2.9% of dental colleges present. Conclusion: A proper distribution of dental manpower for the people in need is the pressing priority now. If all the necessary actions are taken and the oral health burden is reduced, then dentistry will flourish in a country like India.