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Sir, I have been associated with undergraduate and postgraduate teaching in dental schools for five years now. As expressed by K. F. Marshall in his letter to the editor entitled Galactic microscopes, the same situation exists in India where magnification is unheard of in the undergraduate curriculum and not completely mastered by postgraduates either who later hold teaching positions in dental schools.1 When students don't see their teachers using magnification routinely, they also do not find it imperative to do so. The dental schools need to make it mandatory for students to work with standard loupes right from the start of their preclinical training. The cost of good quality loupes is, however, a limiting factor. As students do not learn the use of loupes in preclinical training they are unable to use it during treatment procedures. When these students enter postgraduate training they need time to learn their speciality-related work as well as to master the use of magnification. Most schools do not provide operating microscopes or loupes to each student. Such expensive equipment is available in limited numbers in each department which makes it difficult for a student to meet his learning curve before leaving dental school. This situation is unlikely to change until such time as the dental schools make changes in their infrastructure.
Over time for the staff and students the use of magnification will become habitual. It is when magnification becomes a habit rather than a novelty that things will change.
References
Marshall K . Dental education: Galatic microscopes. Br Dent J 2015; 218: 369.
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Juneja, N. Few loupes in India. Br Dent J 219, 2 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.bdj.2015.540
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.bdj.2015.540