We were three people at the raid post on that dreaded night when we were attacked. I lost two of my brothers and could not even move my face. I lost hope that I would ever speak again, says Sharma
Naik Sushil Sharma had lost all hope after he was hit on the ear by a bullet at Tangdhar in Jammu and Kashmir during a militant attack in 2012. The bullet entered his ear and came out of his mouth leaving his jaws damaged. Sharma's facial organs, including eyes, were affected and he could not talk also. But the impossible was made possible at the Army Dental Centre (R & R) in Delhi, equipped in handling such cases, to perform a set of surgeries that got Sharma talking and looking normal again.
"We were three people at the raid post on that dreaded night when we were attacked. I lost two of my brothers and could not even move my face. I lost hope that I would ever speak again," says Sharma, in a telephonic conversation with DNA, recalling the night."It has been five years. Though the treatment is still on as the bullet affected many other organs, I have so much confidence in our Army doctors now. They left no stone unturned to help me speak/hear and look the same again," he added.
The Army Dental Hospital with various departments, including Periodontology, Prosthodontics, Oral and Maxillofacial, and all the latest equipment, including a recent 'hard and soft tissue laser' from Israel, has expertise in handling cases direct from the conflict zones, where patients come with all kinds of deformities. The 35 specialised dental officers and another 20 postgraduate trainees are experts in handling such cases which require both - a doctor's expertise and an officer's training.
"Naik Sharma had come here with an open oral and nasal communication (broken upper palate) and required many surgeries from Maxillofacial surgery, where a remnant portion of the bones was restored, followed by grafting and reconstructive surgery. Vestibular depth was extended to further go for titanium implants in the bone and give a fixed implant-supported prosthesis," informs Brigadier Subrata Roy, Commandant, Army Dental Centre (Research & Referral)."We are one of the very few who do Periodontal Microsurgery in India," he adds.
Naik Sushil Sharma (before and after the surgery)
The hospital with all its facilities has a daily footfall of over 400 patients, which include serving soldiers, their dependents, and veterans. By the end of this year, this will be the first hospital to go paperless where a patient management software has been designed and data archival is also taking place. This new software, TASKA will have all the details and past records of patients.
Apart from taking care of Army smiles, dental records have other importance in the Armed Forces."DNA analysis, in case of a mass disaster, is very expensive. Identification in such cases is best done by dental records. We keep a dental record of every soldier and it has been helpful in the past where bodies have been completely charred," adds Roy.
EXPERTISE
- The Army Dental Hospital with various departments, including Periodontology, Prosthodontics, Oral and Maxillofacial, and all the latest equipment, including a recent ‘hard and soft tissue laser’ from Israel, has expertise in handling cases direct from the conflict zones, where patients come with all kinds of deformities
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