Dental quackery in India: an insight on malpractices and measures to tackle them

Quackery in dentistry has been a problem for decades. It arises when there are inadequate numbers of competent and trained practitioners or when their charges appear prohibitive to a segment of the population. Poorly educated people often become gullible prey to quacks who perform dental treatment, which is often harmful to patients. It is time to take measures to stop such unethical practices. The purpose of this paper is to highlight the various causes of growing dental quackery in India, the possible measures to prevent it and the malpractices being carried out by quacks. It will also propose a classification of oral healthcare providers in India.