Maintaining good oral health is of paramount importance in every stage of our life. Teenagers are often negligent in their oral health care leading to long term adverse effects not only on their dental wellness but also serious negative consequences on their overall physical and mental health.

Adolescence is a period where teenagers are busy with their school/college, general and social activities, squeezing all meaning out of the very idea of what is attention-worthy for their oral health. This unmindfully leads to the habit of eating fast food items, thus neglecting their gums and teeth and leading to several dental ailments in the future.

Here are some basic tips which teens can follow to keep their attractive and healthy smiles intact:

1. Brush twice a day with an ultra-soft toothbrush and pea-sized fluoridated toothpaste.

• Aim to make an angle of 45 degrees towards the gumline.
• Move the toothbrush in gentle circles.
• Start with the top back teeth. Brush the outside surface of the teeth along the gumline, then the inner surface of teeth. Repeat the same with other teeth also.
• Move to the bottom teeth and repeat the above step.
• Brush along the chewing surface of teeth.
• Do not forget to floss after brushing the teeth.
• Gently brush the tongue.
• Brush for around 2 minutes.

Discuss with your dentist what kind of toothbrush and toothpaste is best for you.

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I am currently in Std X and would like to pursue a career in dentistry. Please give me information about this field along with good colleges in India and abroad in which to pursue this field.
Janvi (15) / New Delhi

Bachelor of Dental Surgery (BDS) is the minimum eligibility to enter into this field. This is a 4-year programme followed by one year of internship. This course is open to the students who have completed 10+2 with Physics, Chemistry and Biology.

Admission to various medical colleges is through NEET (National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (ntaneet.nic.in) and some other all-India level tests. Some of the good colleges in India are Nair Hospital Dental College, Mumbai (nair.edu); Institute of Medical Sciences, Benaras Hindu University, Varanasi (imsbhu.nic.in); Sri Ramachandra Dental College, Chennai (sriramachandra.edu.in/medical); Maulana Azad Dental College and Hospital, Delhi (mamc.ac.in); CMC Vellore (cmch-vellore.edu); Manipal College of Dental Sciences, Mangalore (manipal.edu); JIPMER, Pondicherry (jipmer.edu); Banaras Hindu University, Institute of Medical Sciences, Varanasi (bhu.ac.in)

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Bachelor of Dental Surgery (BDS) is the minimum eligibility to enter into this field. This is a 4-year programme followed by a 1-year internship. This course is open to the students who have completed 10+2 with Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics. The course offers subjects in all aspects of oral hygiene and care and provides a solid foundation for the prospective dentist. The final two years of this course are devoted to clinical studies, rotating through clinics and treating patients under a supervisor in order to learn dental techniques. After completion of BDS, one may go for practice or undertake further study and specialize in some branch of dentistry.

CBSE conducts an all India Pre-medical/Pre-dental examination (aipmt.nic.in/aipmt) for 15% merit seats of many medical/dental colleges all over India. The allocation of institutions is based on merit. But some colleges have separate entrance criterion for BDS courses. Some of these are:

CMC Vellore (cmch-vellore.edu)

Manipal College of Dental Sciences, Mangalore (manipal.edu)

JIPMER, Pondicherry (jipmer.edu)

Banaras Hindu University, Institute of Medical Sciences, Varanasi (bhu.ac.in)

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