First female dentist of undivided India Dr Vimla Sud no more

Chandigarh: First female dentist of Undivided India Dr Vimla Sud left passed away on Sunday at the age of about 100 years.

Dr Puneet Girdhar, Joint Director, Medical Education and Research, Punjab, Member Dental Council of India and Registrar, Punjab Dental Council, Mohali laid the wreath on behalf of the Department of Medical Education and Research, Punjab and informed that Dr Vimla Sud was the senior most registered dentist with Punjab Dental Council. Her life and work has been an inspiration for all the practicing and budding dentists, especially the female dentists of the country.

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He said that it is a great and irreparable loss of a person who had unparalleled understanding of the profession and added that her demise has left a void which can never be filled.

Many leading dentists of the state were present on the occasion to pay their last respects to the pious soul. She was cremated with full honour.

Dr Sachin Dev Mehta, Secretary IDA Punjab State and Member Dental Council of India, informed that Dr Vimla Sud was born in 1922 and Graduated in 1944 from De Montmorency College of Dentistry, Lahore, now known as Punjab Dental College, Lahore. She was from a family of doctors who encouraged her to join Dentistry even though she was the only female in her batch of 30 students at Lahore. She moved to United States of America for her internship and later completed her Masters in Pediatric Dentistry in 1955 from University of Minnesota.

After partition, Dr Vimla Sud moved to Chandigarh. She worked at Wellingdon Hospital( now Ram Manohar Lohia) where she used to visit villages in a mobile van. She later joined Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education and Research, Puducherry.

Dr Tarun Kalra, Principal, Bhojia Dental College and Hospital, Baddi (H.P.) and Representative of State to IDA Punjab while paying his last respects to the stalwart in Dentistry said that she was recognised and honoured by the Indian Dental Association at the Women Dental Council function on International Women's Day on March 8, 2020 at Chandigarh. He said that she got her self treated from him 10 days back and was still inquisitive about recent developments in modern day dentistry.

Dr Nitin Verma, Faculty at Punjab Government Dental College, Amritsar (established in 1952) which is a tributary of Punjab Dental College, Lahore (established in 1935) from where Dr Vimla Sud graduated was present to pay tribute to the departed soul on behalf of the Principal, staff and students of the college.

Dr Navjot Khurana, who is an alumnus of Punjab Government Dental College, Amritsar, laid the wreath and paid his last respects on behalf of Principal, Staff and students of Government Dental College, Patiala.

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