Archive

"We are privileged in India to receive world class care at one-fifth or one-tenth the cost of what we would require to pay to receive the same treatment abroad,” stated Dr Cyrus Karkaria who was appointed president of the Zoroastrian Dentists’ Organisation (ZDO) at their 69th scientific meeting on March 19, 2023 (see "ZDO’s seven decades,” Events and Personalities, Parsiana, April 21-May 6, 2023). "The same dental materials and implants are used here, and realizing this so many foreigners come to India for dental tourism which is a thriving industry.”
Speaking about ZDO, Karkaria said the objective of this "young group is to take this organization forward. Our goal is to keep core values at the heart of the Organisation intact… We will keep changing leadership every few years to give everyone a chance to bring in new energy… We will all continue to serve whether president or secretary or not.” ZDO provides a platform for established and fresh dentists to interact and share best practices. They hold dental camps in Navsari and some rural places. ZDO will "provide any assistance we can to ensure that more and more Parsi dentists continue to serve society to the best of their ability,” Karkaria told Parsiana on April 24.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

"We now have a bunch of enthusiastic younger generation dentists, ably guided by the forever-young duo of Dr Porus Turner (chairman of ZDO Charitable Trust) and Dr Sorab Jhaveri (treasurer) who have been serving this Organisation tirelessly and selflessly for many years.” Karkaria singled out their "constant encouragement” for many younger Parsi dentists to get a platform to showcase their work alongside stalwarts. "This not only helps build their confidence to be present on a big platform, but also nudges them to strive and do good work throughout the year,” he appreciated.
The dentist rued that in India we don’t have dental insurance yet. "Your general health insurance only covers dental in case you require hospitalization for treatment like a cyst or tumor excision or a facial fracture requiring surgery.”
Karkaria urges that individuals should request their dentist to demonstrate how to brush and floss. "The main tips and tricks are in the technique of brushing… Once you are doing that twice a day you won’t need much dental treatment… just visit your dentist every six months for routine clean-ups.” Specifically for seniors, he stated, "It all begins with first trying to preserve every single one of those pearly whites… Problems begin when you don’t replace one and then others have to bear the brunt of the bite and you keep losing more teeth over time… If food is not broken down by teeth, then the stomach has to bear the consequences and you start seeing a range of symptoms like indigestion, acidity, gastric reflux and weight loss.
What are the benefits of implants vis-à-vis dentures? What should be the considerations when opting for one or the other? queried Parsiana. Karkaria called dentures "oral wigs” and implants as "hair transplants.” Stating that dental implants are way more successful with a 98.3% documented success rate, he stated that "today they are less painful than an extraction… Implants preserve bone as they give force to the bone like natural teeth, whereas dentures are constantly rubbing against the bone and lead to bone loss over the years.” As long as budgets permit, implants will always be the first option to replace a missing tooth, stated the dentist.

 

 

 

 

 

Stating that expensive and cheap dental treatment are relative terms, Karkaria said that the decision should be based on "what value you place on the work of the dentist.”
When he had just graduated from college and wanted to join Turner’s practice, there was no opening for an associate dentist, "but Turner added ‘I can’t say no to a Parsi’ and took me under his wing and several others after me as well… (Turner) constantly encouraged all of us to get a postgraduation degree.”
 An alumnus of Government Dental College and Hospital and University of Frankfurt, 37-year-old Karkaria topped his class in prosthodontics (the making of artificial teeth) at the graduate level. He is presently the director of a multi-specialty dental center at Santa Cruz and a visiting implantology consultant at various clinics. Karkaria’s wife Khushnuma, like him, is a first generation dentist and both practice together. Their three-year-old daughter Viyana has started schooling at Bai Avabai Framji Petit Girls’ High School in Bandra. Cyrus’s father Sham wanted to study to be a doctor but finances did not permit that. "Along with his studies, (Sham) was also working part-time as a mobed to make ends meet…. With help from Parsi trusts, he could pursue electrical engineering at M. S. University, Baroda and then secured a job at Bombay Suburban Electric Supply Company in Bombay, rising to become general manager… Some may remember his signatures on electricity bills in the late 1990s. He retired as senior vice president and then served as consultant at Tata Power.” Mother Nergish is a homemaker and "the glue that holds the family together.”