Spreading smiles
It is often said, “Smile is the only curve that sets everything straight”. Designing beautiful smiles, Dr. Preeti Kulkarni has been in this noble profession for over a decade. At an age when a kid is just learning to pronounce his/her name, Dr. Preeti was literally ahead of her time as she could clearly say the word “Orthodontics”. Right from a very young age, Dr. Preeti, who has dentistry in her blood, thanks to her father Dr. Veejay Deshpande, was determined to become a dentist and specialise in Orthodontics. “I have been very close to my father since my childhood. Seeing my father work as a dentist I was attracted to this profession. When kids my age were busy watching Tom and Jerryand other cartoons, I used to play the cassettes of dental implant procedures on the television. After school, I used to visit my father’s clinic daily. I used to study there. As I grew up,I started interacting with the patients as well,” she recalls.
A silver medal holder in Maharashtra for her post-graduation degree in Orthodontics, Dr. Preeti burnt the midnight oil to complete her education after a maternity break. She states, “When I started my post-graduation, many doubted my ability to perform since I was a mother to a newborn. I took it as a challenge and thankfully I completed my postgraduate programme with flying colours. I owe my success to my mentor and postgraduate teacher.”
Like father, like daughter, Dr. Preeti also went abroad to gain experience and brought the learnings back to India. Dr. Preeti avers, “In 2006, I got married and went to the US. I worked there for a few years. It was a great learning experience as I came to know about the standards and practices followed there. Coming back to India, I was determined to incorporate similar standards and practices for my patients.” Before Dr. Preeti started her own practice at Creative Smiles, where she is also the administrative backbone, she had worked extensively with her father and gained a lot of experience.
As an orthodontist, Dr. Preeti’s scope of work includes jaw and teeth alignment, correction of bite, synchrony of jaw and teeth, inter-alia. “Any dental problems, if detected at an early age, can be corrected easily. If the problem is detected late, then it becomes more challenging to rectify it. Close to 95% of the people have the bite problems. Since it doesn’t seem objectionable, people ignore it. However, if the improper bite remains unattended, it may lead to bigger dental issues in future. Earlier there was not much awareness about this, but nowadays, there is. Also, because of Aligners/ Invisible braces, many people have opted for teeth alignment and jaw correction,” she says. Dr. Preeti has specialised and has certifications in some of the most premium Invisible Orthodontic techniques like Aligners and Lingual Orthodontics so as to cater to all kinds of patients keeping in mind their social, professional backgrounds and needs. She uses both Indian and International Lab support for Aligners to cater to a wide ranged and price sensitive Indian market, giving maximum results with minimum discomfort.
Dr. Preeti over the years has come across a variety of cases. She shares, “A 65-year old woman had come to me. As a child she had longer front two teeth which were just shaved off due to which her bite changed and became compromised. Over the period she noticed increasing gaps between her teeth and her chewing was compromised. A proper Orthodontic correction was planned for her, and the difference towards the end of her treatment was remarkable. She could maintain oral hygiene better due to well aligned teeth with no gaps, and she could chew so much better due to the improved bite. The patient was thrilled and said she felt 10 years younger. This I felt was a big achievement for me where along with a better smile, I could give better function of biting and chewing to the patient”.
She adds, “Nowadays there are many cases of young people facing problems of gums and bone loss. These problems occur due to lack of oral hygiene mostly due to improper alignment of teeth. I had a young movie director in his twenties come to me with multiple teeth fillings which never lasted for more than a year for him and he had a recurring problem of tartar accumulation in his lower teeth, despite being very particular about his oral hygiene. It was very challenging to do his Orthodontic correction due to his erratic work schedule. Aligners was an obvious treatment option in this case because of his demanding schedule and need for it to be not visible considering his line of work. After almost 18 months post treatment, his smile and bite changed miraculously and now almost three years later he thankfully doesn’t have to make emergency dental visits for broken fillingsbut just annual clean up sessions!!”
Creative Smiles in proud to have all Multi Specialists under one roof and thus a more holistic approach is maintained with lot of attention give to treatment planning and the best in line technology is used for treatment execution. The world is going digital and so is dentistry. Creative Smiles are very proud to be one of the first clinics in Thane and amongst very few in Mumbai to have complete in-house digital Intraoral scanners and workflow, thereby giving precise treatment solution. The concept of Single Visit dentistry is practiced here making it a choice for lot of International patients. The Clinic is the first NABH Accredited dental clinic in Thane and 2nd in Mumbai since 2017. NABH (National Accreditation Board for Hospitals) is the highest level of Quality Council Accreditation program for healthcare Organisation.
Dr. Preeti has been a practicing dentist for over a decade now and apart from working with Creative Smiles, with her father Dr. Veejay Deshpande, brother Dr. Makarand Deshpande and sister-in-law Dr. Sharmika Deshpande, she is associated with a lot of reputed Dental Clinics as a Consultant Orthodontist. From her busy schedule, she also takes out time to teach the budding Orthodontists. She has been working with Yerala Medical Trust’s Dental College and Hospital in Navi Mumbai as a lecturer since 2014. She has also presented her research at many international and national conferences and won awards for the same.
Dr. Preeti Kulkarni is also a Chief Orthodontist at the Airway Co-Lab Chapter India and works with a team of Multi-specialists like Pedodontist, ENT Surgeons, Physiotherapists etc. Here she specialises in doing lot of cases with airway obstructions and some jaw joint dysfunctions. Talking about this, she adds, “Working in this sector is extremely challenging due to the complexity of problems the patient faces as well as incorporating your treatment in sync with the other specialists requires lot of treatment planning. Many adults as well as young kids come in with a lot of discomfort that they suffer from for years together. When these treatments make a great difference in the patients lives and benefit them, it becomes extremely satisfying for us as doctors.”
Dr. Preeti is extremely passionate about her work and that speaks through her wide range of patient base right from kids of all ages to adults. She adds, “Orthodontic treatments are usually longer treatments, so we naturally build a very strong bond with our patients in this time. For them as patients to trust us and like the surroundings that they are coming in is important. So we do have some annual competitions and activities in the clinic, so that this becomes their happy place and all the phobia for the dental clinics and doctors is kept at bay.”
Center : Dr. Veejay Deshpande (Consultant Dental Implantologist)
L-R : Dr. Sharmika (Endodontist), Dr. Makarand Deshpande (Prosthodontist),
Dr. Preeti Kulkarni (Orthodontist)
Before signing off, Dr. Preeti Kulkarni offers a few pointers to keep in mind. She emphasises to all the parents with pre-adolescent kids, “The ideal age for your child to consult an Orthodontist is 7 years, to understand if the permanent teeth are erupting correctly and are there any jaw alignment issues or any unwanted habits of your child. This is the best age to address these issues. For all those with adolescent children and teens do not wait till all the permanent teeth erupt to start braces treatment for your children. Thats a common misconception. Let the Orthodontist decide the good time to start the treatment. And for all the adults, it is never too late to get your teeth and jaws aligned and correct the bite. Bite corrections at an early age will help you avoid so many problems later. Aligners have changed the way Orthodontic treatment is perceived and have opened new avenues for all those adults as well as children apprehensive to have braces fixed to your teeth. You can now straighten your teeth and still eat whatever you want without any restrictions and no one will know about it as it will be completely invisible!”
Read E-Magazine : Preeti Kulkarni 1- Oct 21
