INDIAN PROSTHODONTIC SOCIETY

Prosthodontics emerged as a specialty of dentistry in Kerala in 1969; the year that witnessed the beginning of formal postgraduate education at the Government Dental College, Thiruvananthapuram. The Department has a rich and long tradition that immensely contributed to the development of the specialty of Prosthodontics and Implantology in our country. The Department gained its early momentum during the tenure of the Prosthodontic legend Prof. Dr. Jacob Hyson.Two students were admitted in the first batch – Dr. George Paulose and Dr.Venugopal. Both of them later occupied very prestigious positions in the government. The former retired as the Joint Director of Medical Education and the latter as the Deputy Director of Health Services. Later MDS programs started in various government and private dental colleges. Prosthodontists who have come out of these institutions presently occupy many important positions in educational institutions, corporate hospitals, research institutions and the Armed forces in India and abroad.

Research activities started in the early seventies thanks to the pioneering efforts of Dr. Jacob Hyson, who was the then Professor of Prosthodontics at Government Dental College, Thiruvananthapuram. Initial research activities cantered on Dental Materials Science and most of the materials available in the market were tested for their properties. Dr. Hyson was serving in the technical committee of the Indian Standards Institution (presently the Bureau of Indian Standards). The Department of Prosthodontics at Government Dental College, Thiruvananthapuram, was considered as an authorized material testing centre. Commercially available Alginates and Zinc oxide Eugenol Impression pastes were thoroughly evaluated for their quality Impression paste and Silicone impression materials were also developed and evaluated.

By the end of the eighties, a research culture was firmly entrenched and rooted onto the Prosthodontic milieu of Kerala. This soon paid rich dividends and research activities touched sublime heights, thanks to the leadership provided by Dr. K. Chandrasekharan Nair and his team of scientists. A number of collaborative efforts also found successful culmination during this period. Some of the organizations with which collaborative research was done were the ISRO, Regional Cancer Centre (Thiruvananthapuram), Central leather Research institute (Chennai), National Physical Laboratory (New Delhi), Sri Chitra Institute (Thiruvananthapuram), Central Glass and Ceramic Research Institute (Kolkata) and Government Medical College (Thiruvananthapuram).
Research progressed mainly in two thrust areas. One was materials and device development and the other clinical and animal studies. Team led by Dr. K. Chandraseskaran Nair and his team consisting of Dr.Jayapalan, Dr.Anilkumar etc developed a semi-adjustable articulator (Anantha), a novel tracer assembly (Chandra tracer) and a short fibre reinforced plastic for fixed dental restorations. The FRP division of the ISRO and its head Shri. P.N. Subramonian contributed greatly towards the project of Aramid reinforced acrylic (ACRAMD), a novel material which witnessed the blissful conjugal union of an aero-space technology with biology, won accolades from the bio-material scientists of the nation.

The second major area also had some noteworthy contributions to add to the research basket. Occlusion, that eternal sphinx of dentistry was sought to be demystified with the use of a novel instrument – the functiograph; an instrument which touched our shores as a result of intentional collaboration. Also were explored the bone binding properties of Titanium dioxide; a unique piece of research by any standard. Animal studies were also initiated and the biocompatibility profile of all the then available implant materials were studied – perhaps a first of its kind in the country. And Vitreous carbon implants were even clinically tested. All this at a time when articles on dental implants were just starting to trickle into the pages of Journal of Prosthetic Dentistry.

While these research pursuits were continuing with no let-up in quality, the Prosthodontists of Kerala did not lose sight of their social responsibilities. While rehabilitating the differently abled (dentally) individuals was the mainstay of their profession, they wanted to go beyond that. Their attention was directed to the rehabilitation of facially disfigured individuals; a condition resulting from ablative surgery. Here collaboration with the Regional Cancer Centre and Plastic surgery department of the Medical College gave them the necessary impetus. Today, we can say proudly that their rehabilitative designs are second to none by even international standards.