Patna Dental College and Hospital. Picture by Ranjeet Kumar Dey

Man and machine idle in the absence of X-ray plates, identifying the root of patients’ toothache has virtually stopped at the state’s lone government-run dental hub.

If the lack of a technician two months back was the hurdle in getting X-rays done, now it’s the need of plates. The failure of the Patna Dental College and Hospital (PDCH) authorities to procure the devices has ensured poor patients shell out money at diagnostic centres outside the hospital.

Sources at PDCH said the test is required in most of the cases. From toothaches to surgeries, doctors advise patients to get an X-ray done. The procedure is mandatory before operations, including root canal treatment, fractures and orthodontic cures.

When The Telegraph asked Dr N.P. Yadav, the in-charge principal of the college, about the non-availability of X-ray facility, he appeared to be clueless. “I don’t know anything about it. I will have to check. If I find that the film plates are unavailable, I will make sure those are bought and the service started at the earliest,” said Yadav.

PDCH mostly gets patients from economically backward sections of society. With the unavailability of the service, they are forced to go other centres to get their X-ray done. Sources said patients who come for surgical treatments, are advised by doctors to get the test done from outside. For getting an X-ray done from outside, a patient has to shell out something between Rs 50 and Rs 100. At the government-run hospital, the service would have come free.

Mahesh Prasad (42), a rickshaw puller said: “I went to PDCH on Thursday. When I consulted a doctor, he told me to get an X-ray done. However, the service is not available here I had to get the test done at a private pathological lab for Rs 120. It is a shame that the dental hospital cannot provide basic facilities. Where will poor patients like me go?”

Apart from the defunct X-ray machine, other factors, too, have hindered the functioning of the dental hub.

A medico at the hospital said: “Doctors working on contract at PDCH do not get their salary on time. For the past three months, I have not got my pay. Before the last Diwali, contractual medicos were not given salaries for six months. The doctors working at PDCH get a lower salary than their ayush (ayurveda, yoga, unani, siddha and homoeopathic) counterparts, who get Rs 30,000 per month, while we get Rs 22,000.”

He added: “The hospital does not even have basic amenities such as air-conditioning in the operation theatre or a proper chair for surgical treatments.”

Dr Amlesh Kumar, the central council member of the Indian Dental Association, said: “The cost of an X-ray film plate is merely Rs 10 or Rs 15. Is it possible that the hospital authority is not able to provide the money? The doctors and the administration are forcing patients to get the test done outside because they do not want to work.”