The Hindu Business Line : Packing dental treatment with tourism

Kochi, Sept. 10 It is like hitting two birds in one shot. Enjoy the beauty of the lush green landscape, verdant canals, the backwaters, and green-carpeted tea gardens in the high ranges in the God’s own country, while undergoing a specialised dental treatment by paying much less than what one has to pay in the developed countries.

In fact, with less than 50 per cent of the cost for such a treatment abroad, one could get good dental care and an amazing holidaying in Kerala, Dr Rajkrishnan, a dental specialist, who has been successfully pursuing dental tourism in the State, told Business Line.

An ISO 9001-2000 certified multi-specialty dental care centre, Dr Rajkrishnan’s Dental Clinic, established in 1995 in Tripunithura, has become a popular name connected with dental tourism in the country and abroad.

The number of dental patients-cum-tourists has crossed 2,000 a year and over 40 per cent of it is from overseas, mainly from the Europe and the US. Their stay in the State in hotels ranges from seven to 21 days depending upon the time required for the treatment. Since they need not have to be lodged in the hospital, these tourists get enough time for sightseeing, he said.

“You could call it a dental vacation. When you consider the cost of dental treatment in Europe, the UK, the US, Australia and,West Asia, it is at least 5-10 times more than the same treatment in Kerala”, he said.

Keeping this in mind, “we may present a complete, planned vacation in Kerala, along with dental care and treatment at our clinic”.

Thus, at the cost of a single procedure abroad, one could “wing his/her way in and have a treatment and a holiday, side by side”, he said.

The clinic has been catering to dental patients from outside India for the last 10 years.

A unique feature here is the training programme not limited to the professionals at the dental clinic. Personnel in the administration, finance, public relations, house keeping and all other sections attend training programmes conducted by industry organisations such as the Confederation of Indian Industry.

Under this scheme “we have launched an internship programme for students from overseas and a student from Germany, Ms Maria Braunagel, is here. She would get exposure to the system followed in our establishment and during her six-month stay, the student would be provided with opportunities to get to know about the functioning of institutions in corporate and service sectors in Kerala,” he claimed.

Dr Rajkrishan is now planning to set up dental clinics with the same facilities in five centres in Kerala and one each in Chennai, Bangalore and Hyderabad. The investment is estimated to be around Rs 3-4 crore for each centre.

A consultant is working on this project to be implemented with venture capital fund support, he said.

In addition, the clinic has entered in to "a type of health insurance plan" which is a dental health plan available to those working in the IT sector. Already a one-year contract has been signed with Charter BPO Solutions in the Infopark here. For young professionals who do not have any dental problems, three members of his family including parents are covered under the scheme, he said.

The latest addition to the clinic is a kid's room equipped with books, toys and other playthings and a plush, comfortable waiting lobby complete with Internet connection. He said that one of his top priorities is cleanliness and hygiene, which the overseas patients were more concerned about. The clinic uses sterilisation practices that meet international standards. Infrastructure at the clinic is fool-proof with power back-up provided for all the main systems, he added

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