Few Takers For Dental Courses, 547 BDS Seats Still Remain Vacant in Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu: After completing all the counseling rounds for BDS admission for the academic year 2022-23 seats remain vacant. The counseling authorities failed to fill all the seats allotted for the BDS course.

 547 seats remain vacant, including government quota seats, the Director of Medical Education (DME Tamil Nadu) has shared this in their media interactions with TOI.

402 government quota seats and 366 management quota seats were left vacant after the stray vacancy round. These seats were returned to colleges for admission through the institution round based on merit on the NEET UG rank list. At the end of the deadline of 14th January 2023, 262 government quota seats and 285 management quota seats remain vacant.

Senior dentists have suggested that candidates ignore dentistry for various reasons. Lack of job opportunities and oral health awareness are probable reasons for fewer takers of dental courses. Dental visits in a year are not as high as other medical visits.

The BDS counseling process started with online registration, payment, and choice filling. The registration process started in October of last year. Round 1 opened with 1956 NEET UG seats, out of which 570 were dental seats. BDS admissions are based on NEET UG. The Director of Medical Education is responsible for the counseling process. He plays a pivotal role in developing medical and paramedical personnel to cater to health needs across the state.

The counseling process is conducted through 3 rounds (round 1, round 2, and mop-up round). If seats remain vacant after the mop-up round, the seats are transferred to the colleges, and they fill them themselves through a stray vacancy round.