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| Year : 2014 | Volume
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| Issue : 4 | Page : 419 |
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| Indian dental research: A potential investment avenue |
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SM Balaji
Executive Editor, Indian Journal of Dental Research, Director, Balaji Dental and Craniofacial Hospital, Teynampet, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India
Click here for correspondence address and email
| Date of Web Publication | 10-Oct-2014 |
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How to cite this article:
Balaji S M. Indian dental research: A potential investment avenue. Indian J Dent Res 2014;25:419 |
We are living in interesting times - the world is slowly recovering from the economy melt down. Certain regions of the world are embroiled in controversies and economic sanctions while few others are caught with pandemic infection. Each country has their own reasons to limit their spending in research. Even in USA, there is a threat for drastic downsizing of the federal spending of medical research. [1] In this context, every dental researcher is now faced with the problems of procuring grants to sustain their research activities.
We are seeing oral health now being related to all possible spheres of general health [2] and even call to list select dental diseases along with noncommunicable diseases. [3] In this time phase, restriction of research spending will impede dental research, create insecurity, displace research system that has taken years to build as well as on a longer run affect oral health care delivery.
Traditionally, in India, the dental research has not relied on government grants for its research outputs. [4] This situation has turned as a boon now. As the Indian Dental Research spending is often made by the researcher themselves, the present situation would not affect the Indian Dental Research output. With allocation of funds for research being unaltered, [5] the quantity and quality of the Indian dental research output will largely remain unchanged. This was a bane till month back, has now turned a boon. However on a longer run, the nonspending of government in dental research will retard the overall dental care. At the same time, Indian Government's commitment in the creation of advanced dental center with all facilities will be a huge boon. [6]
With these dire paradoxical situations in existence, as a premier dental research community our responsibility increases. Indian Society for Dental Research members and Indian Dental Research fraternity members need to get together and press for more research grants so as to continue producing good dental research for better oral health care delivery. We need to get together to emphasize with the policy makers that the research investment will bring in huge returns rather than a cold expense. Such an effort only will ensure better budgetary allocation to us.
 References | |  |
| 1. | Morello L. More cuts loom for US science. Nature 2013;501:147-8. 
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| 2. | Balaji SM. Dental research: Present to future. Indian J Dent Res 2013;24:651-2.
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| 3. | Chapple I, Wilson N. Chronic non-communicable diseases. Br Dent J 2014;216:487.
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| 4. | Balaji SM. Dental research - Looking for funding and beyond. Indian J Dent Res 2014;25:3.
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| 5. | Jayaraman KS. First Modi budget spells austerity for Indian science. Nature News 2014. [2014 Jul 11]. Available from: http://www.nature.com/news/first-modi-budget-spells-austerity-for-indian-science-1.15542 . [Last accessed on 2014 Aug 15].
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| 6. | Available from: http://www.outlookindia.com/news/article/Union-Budget-Free-Drugs-Diagnosis-to-Ensure-Health-for-All/849106 . [Last accessed on 2014 Aug 15].
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Correspondence Address:
S M Balaji
Executive Editor, Indian Journal of Dental Research, Director, Balaji Dental and Craniofacial Hospital, Teynampet, Chennai, Tamil Nadu
India
 Source of Support: None, Conflict of Interest: None  | Check |
DOI: 10.4103/0970-9290.142510
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