India's 'backstreet dentists': Lifeline or hidden risk?

DW (English)

On a busy roadside, Kishore Lal has been treating patients for over three decades. He offers extractions, fillings and dentures at cut-rate prices. The question remains, however, whether unlicensed dentists, who operate in legal gray areas, provide a necessary service or put patients in jeopardy.

Transcript

00:00It's been 30 years since I came to Bihar.

00:24There is no limit to what I have learned here.

00:29I bring my old patients here.

00:45I have been coming here for a long time.

00:48It costs a lot of money.

00:50There is no good work here.

00:52There is no money here.

00:53There is good work.

00:55There is a lot of health here.

00:57I tell others to come and work here.

01:01There is good work here.

01:03I have got my teeth fixed.

01:05My front teeth were broken.

01:07Now I have two teeth.

01:28Patari has a lot of problems.

01:32It rains, there is a storm.

01:34There is a source of infection.

01:36I sterilize it.

01:38I don't want to play with anyone's life.

01:42My job is to fix fake teeth.

01:44Otherwise, there will be infections and problems.

01:58Bihar, India

02:11There are laws and there are surprise checks.

02:16Anyone who makes a complaint will be looked after by the government.

02:22Many patients drop in corporate hospitals.

02:26When the bill is inflated, they regret it.

02:31They have to sell their assets and pay the bills.

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