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APRIL 7
Christian Berger, the president of European Association of Dental Implantologists is at present participating in the International Implantology Congress organised by the Nepalese Society of Implant Dentistry, which kicked off today in Kathmandu.
Bal Krishna Sah of The Himalayan Times talked to him about the aim of the Congress and its theme 'Embracing the Future'. Excerpts:
Could you explain the relevance of the Congress of dentists and dental implantology?
Oral diseases are on the rise due to changing lifestyles, consumption of acidic beverages, junk food and unsolicited advRrtisements According to the World Health Organisation, oral diseases affect nearly 3.5 billion people globally.
In Nepal, the prevalence of oral diseases has increased significantly with a high percentage of the population affected. This trend is alarming and requires immediate attention from the dental community.
The NSID is committed to improving dental health care in Nepal.
It has been conducting various programmes to bring together dental specialists and general practitioners to enhance the practice of dentistry The NSID has collaborated with several national and international societies to provide quality evidence-based dental education to enhance care for patients.
The International Implantology Congress is a platform for dental professionals to learn about the latest advancements in implant dentistry and exchange knowledge and ideas. It is an excellent opportunity for dental professionals to stay updated with the latest trends and techniques and improve their clinical skills to provide better pa-tient care.
What is your expectation from this Congress?
You know, the world was divided into continents, but that's long ago.
Now it's one world and we need to learn from each other. So, it's still necessary to travel the big distance to get closer to each other to share opinions, to discuss cases and I think this Congress is outstanding.
That's why I came all the way from Germany. I am just a representative from Europe in this Congress and that is my objective to be here.
What kind of collaboration do you want with NSID and Nepal?
Under our guidelines, we bring together different nations. Each gives its own opinion. We discuss them to come to a common understanding.
This understanding, let's call it common sense is written in the guidelines and dentists here in Nepal, America, Australia or in Europe can just use these guidelines.
If he has a case similar to one of the cases I present, you have to keep this in mind. It's just like we have differences in traffic flow. You're rolling on the left side, we are rolling on the right, but driving a car is still the same. So, it's just that we have to bring all these visions and opinions together and that's what the Congress is for.
You heard from Dr Sunduk Ruit that dental implantation should be done in Nepal. What is your take on that ?
I think all these procedures are done worldwide. What Dr. Ruit did on the eyes, I think it's not just for Nepal or people here in Asia. The doctor in Africa can use it on the patient, the doctor in South America Can use it. And it's the same for dental implants. So a lot of companies of Europe are ready to support.
Medicine is not like mathematics.
So, to make it predictable you have to exchange knowledge and that's very important.
What is the future of dentistry?
Dr Neil Pandey, secretary of NSID, told me that NSID was founded seven years ago. Our organisation is about 40 of 50 years old. We just have to bring all members of the Congress to the same level which is not difficult for dentists have learned it already. But we have to teach it to our students. So, we have to bring it all together on the same level.
You talked about Chat GPT in your presentation. How challenging is AI going to be in the field of Medicine?
It will help us a lot. If you are constructing cars, robots will be able to produce more with AI than you would with workers. In medicine, I think we are far away from replacing the dentist or the surgeon by a robot. That will not happen.
Robots will help a lot, but not a single dentist will be replaced.
What can be done in the field of dentistry in Nepal and how can people of Nepal be aware?
Today, we have the internet, You- Tube if you want information on how it is done. You can all see it on YouTube. We also follow the same procedure while teaching. They first do practicals on animal skulls then on human skulls. It can be easily done through the internet, but you still need a teacher to teach and students to learn the practicals.
How economy-friendly can dental surgery be made like for instance, eye surgery?
We'll have to go the same way. We cannot go from 100 dollars to 4 dollars. As it is more complex than cataract procedure we can not go completely like Dr Sanduk Ruit. Our profession is to preserve teeth and teach them now how they can preserve dental health.
A version of this article appears in the print on April 8, 2023, of The Himalayan Times.
