This
dentist requires no face mask, gloves, water and air sprays, no
automatically adjustable chairs and no bright lights. This street
dentist’s open air clinic consists of nothing more than a blue plastic
sheet which is the ‘dentist’s chair’, a big bag full of bottles,
syringes, cement for fillings, tweezers, dentures and a rectangular
mirror by his side.
We
have all heard of roadside barbers, shoe polishers and paanwalas but
have you ever heard of a roadside dentist? You’ve read it right,
roadside dentists may not be a common sight but if you’re lucky you
might spot one near stations or underground subways. “I have been
sitting here for the last 25 years,” says the dentist fondly known as
Chachaji, who has his open-air clinic opposite the CST station. He has
a routine way of setting up his clinic every day. As the clock strikes
11am, he comes with a bag full of his dental instruments and a blue
plastic sheet. He then spreads the sheet on the footpath and sits down
on it, then folds a part of it inwards. On the arrival of his patient,
he opens the folded portion, on which the patient sits. He then listens
to his patient’s grievances and performs the suitable treatment. This
sure is a funny sight to be seated on the pavement just behind a bus
stop with your mouth open. You may just give passersby a reason to
laugh. While it may seem funny to others, Chachaji does this dental
treatment to earn his living and support his family.
While
you need a medical degree to qualify as an official Dentist, these
people conveniently sit on footpaths and set up their clinic in exactly
five minutes. “We have not studied anything about dentistry but this is
an inherited art from our grandfathers and great grandfathers,” says
Chachaji. Since childhood, Chachaji has been observing his father and
grandfather at work in Punjab and is now continuing the tradition. “His
son comes too and has learnt a great deal from his father,” says
Shankar Yadav, a barber seated on the same footpath. “I have heard that
his son fixes teeth really well and he will continue the tradition,”
Yadav adds.
It
may seem difficult to believe but these people are actually successful
in extracting teeth ranging from a tiny premolar to a deeply rooted
wisdom tooth. It’s not only that, this dentist can actually replace a
tooth with an artificial one and also fills cavities with cement
filling. Wait a minute, there is more to that – Chachaji also takes
measurements of his patient’s gums and actually gets dentures made for
a mere Rs 250. Isn’t it value for money?!
“I
have recently started going to Chachaji for teeth replacement and I
have had no problems so far,” says T K Vijaykar, a stenographer working
at a lawyer’s office. He has had 14 of his teeth replaced and some
fillings done. According to him, Chachaji is much better than any other
dentist as he is very reasonable, “He charged me only Rs 3,000 for
replacing 14 teeth, if I would have gone to another dentist he would
not have charged me less than Rs 20,000,” Vijaykar explains. To add to
that Chachaji guarantees that his dentures will last for a year at
least. Even if the replaced tooth get loose on biting something hard,
Chachaji tightens them for a meagre sum of Rs 20.
As
far as hygiene is concerned Chachaji washes his instruments daily with
soap, but reuses them without cleaning every time a new patient comes.
The patients who usually visit him are uneducated and therefore not
concerned about the hygiene. Whatever it maybe it is the satisfaction
of the patients that counts the most and without doubt it is guaranteed.
As
the clock strikes five, the day ends for Chachaji and he once again
gathers his instruments, puts them safely into the suitcase and
disappears for the day. No one knows where he goes; he becomes a speck
in the crowd of millions.
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