The Dental Technology Registration Board of Nigeria (DTRBN), says it has commenced issuing of mobile licences to dental technologists across the country.
The Registrar/Chief Executive Officer of the board, Dr Olayinka Olaiya said that issuing the licences would help to curtail the activities of the many quacks in the industry.
According to him, the mobile licence carries a mobile identification number to distinguish the professionals and the registered dentists from the untrained, through the use of technology.
“There is need to curtail the activities of quacks and unregistered dentists in the country.
“Quacks in the field have caused a lot of damage to people who cannot differentiate them; some people have died as a result of use of substandard drugs prescribed for their treatment by these untrained personnel.
“Because we have fewer professionals in the field, the quacks have capitalised on this to damage the profession and giving us bad names,’’ he said.
The CEO observed that these untrained personnel had operated more in the rural areas, stressing that the fears over the years was what had left terrible problems in the the society.
“Their services have been detrimental to the work of the professionals; they prescribe drugs that tended to impose adverse effects on patients, then giving us a bad name.
“We are struggling seriously to ensure that people are able to identify quacks from professionals, through their mobile licences by use of technology.
“Even if the dentist is practicing in a private hospital as a consultant, their numbers will be displayed in complimentary cards, which can be used to verify if such practitioners are registered or not,’’ Olaiya said.
The CEO urged all dental technologists to update their facilities and seek registration, as the regulatory body, would soon begin to sanction erring practitioners.
He said that the regulatory board had since commenced the inspection of facilities in all dental hospitals in the country. “We have started inspection of facilities being used by dental clinics because they must be up-to-date’’.
Olaiya, then advised Nigerians to only use medical hospitals and dental clinics for their various treatments within the country rather than going abroad as they had the skilled personal and experts in the field.
“We have qualified experts in that area of health practice, that can offer the same treatment as obtainable abroad; this will reduce expenses of those seeking dental treatment,” he said.
