Dental treatment not simple: Professor

Dental treatment not simple: Professor

JAKARTA (JP): There is more than just getting a filling and a
perfect set of teeth when going to a dentist. Yet dentists and
patients are both guilty of neglecting aspects beyond aesthetic
ones, a leading orthodontist says.

As the practice of making periodical visits to the dentist is
now picking up among wealthier Indonesians, Hendro Kusnoto said
yesterday that orthodontic treatment should be preceded by
intensive studies to guard against new health problems.

Hendro, who was yesterday installed as a professor at Trisakti
University's school of dentistry, pointed out that dentists often
neglect the research required before surgery takes place.

"People have lately become more aware of their appearances.
But if orthodontic corrections are made only for aesthetic
reasons without considering the impact on other aspects of
health, new problems will appear," he said.

Orthodontics is a branch of dentistry dealing with faulty
tooth occlusion and its correction.

Any orthodontic or orthopedic treatment, he said, could change
the whole chain of a patient's digestive and verbal system.

Advances in science and technology which has led to the
development of expensive, sophisticated equipment used in
orthodontic surgery, often cause dentists to forget the patient's
interests and turn instead to a more commercialized orientation.

"Orthodontic treatment is not as simple as it seems," he said.

Hendro said there is currently a popular but incorrect view
which sees sophisticated orthodontic treatment simply as fixing
braces on a patient's teeth -- currently a somewhat popular trend
among some Indonesians.

"Orthodontic treatment...involves knowledge about the complex
growth and development process of the teeth and determines the
major cause, or flaws resulting in, a malocclusion," he said.

Hendro explained that a correct diagnosis and analysis is
vital because it would be the grounds to establish plans for
technical dental treatment.

Therefore, he added, orthodontic treatment, which is
conventionally aimed at improving facial appearances, would also
have to take into account the side-effects of strain, dysfunction
and pain on other nerve muscles.

Hendro graduated from Trisakti University's school of
dentistry in 1968. He completed his graduate studies in Paris'
Universite de Paris and Bandung's Padjadjaran University in 1972
and 1988, respectively.

Hendro, 55 years old, was initiated as a specialist in
orthodontics during a 1978 National Congress of the Indonesian
Association of Dentists.

In his oration, Hendro also said that there is now an ever
increasing appreciation of the dentistry profession, specially
with the World Health Organization (WHO)'s declaration of 1994 as
the Year of Healthy Teeth.

WHO's decision is a boost to those in the profession in
Indonesia because dentistry has not been given its due priority
by the people in the country, he said.

He said the government, in this case the Ministry of Health,
has now also recognized the importance of the people's oral
health.

He stressed the need to give greater attention to
malocclusion, which could lead to physical or even mental
handicaps.

He estimated that the prevalence of malocclusion among
Indonesian children is as high as 75 percent, and of these, 40
percent should be given curative treatment. (pwn)