德里街頭牙醫 40年老品牌值得信賴

Thestreet dentists of Delhi: Tooth extraction costs just 50p (albeit with a rustypair of pliers) and rows of dentures come with a try-before-you-buy guarantee

德里街頭牙醫：拔牙只要50便士，儘管是用生鏽的鉗子，一排排的假牙在購買之前可試用

Ascars speed past patients in India’s capital don’t think twice about havingtheir teeth seen to by the city’s popular street dentists.

隨着汽車穿流而過，印度首都的這些牙病患者想都沒想就把自己的牙齒問題交給首都最受歡迎的街頭牙醫處理。

Andit’s not only in New Delhi, it happens in cities all over India.

這種事情不僅發生在新德里，幾乎遍及印度所有城市。

Self-proclaimedroadside dentists perform complicated dental procedures on patients withlimited funds using almost medieval equipment.

這些自稱的街頭牙醫所使用的幾乎是中世紀的設備來給患者進行復雜的牙科手術。

There’sno clinic, no costly chairs, no electric drills, there’s no need for anappointment even, patients just pull up a plastic stool and hope the dentistwill relieve any pain with a rusty set of pliers.

沒有診所，沒有昂貴的椅子，沒有電鑽，甚至都不需要預約，患者們就只是坐在塑料凳子上，希望醫生能用這些生鏽的鉗子治好他們的牙病。

Street dentist Surinder Singh, 67, from Ludhiana, in the eastern state ofPunjab, is a school dropout but learned the dentist trade from his father. He’snow been in this business for 40 years.

來自東部旁遮普邦盧迪亞納市的67歲街頭牙醫Surinder Singh是個輟學生，從父親那裏學來了治牙的本事。如今他已經從業40年了。

Hesaid: ‘A few decades ago I had 15 patients a day but now it's three or four aweek. I make around 2,500 Rs (£25) a month.

他說：“幾十年前，每天平均有15名患者來找我，但是現在一週只有3、4個。每月的收入是2500盧比（25英鎊）。

‘Now adays only the poorest of the poor come to see me. They cannot afford theseexpensive clinics but they deserve to be treated too so thank god they havepeople like me.’

“如今，只有窮人中的窮人才找我看病。他們沒辦法去昂貴的診所看病，但是有病總得治療啊，所以感謝上帝，他們還可以找像我這樣的人。”

Patients have to pay 50 Rs (50P) for a tooth extraction and 150 Rs (£1.50) fora new tooth.

拔牙只需要50盧比（50便士），換牙需要150盧比。

A new set of dentures will cost 1,500 Rs (£15) and comes with a one-yearguarantee. There’s no consultation fee.

如果是一整套假牙的話需要1500盧比，擔保一年。不收診療費。

Butpatients take a huge risk. The drills, tweezers and pliers are neversterilized, only washed in disinfectant at the end of the day. And Surinderuses a hand held torch for light if a patient comes after dusk.

但是患者要面臨很大風險。這些鑽頭、鑷子和鉗子從來都沒有殺菌，只是每天收攤時放在消毒劑裏洗一洗。如果患者晚上來的話，他就用火把來照明。

Anytooth extraction is done without anesthesia; they’re just fed some painkillersafter to cope with the pain.

而且拔牙都沒有麻醉的；只是在拔牙後吃點止痛藥。

Surinderadded: 'We take extreme care in treating patients. We are equally skillful tohigh-end clinics. I have been doing this for 40 years and none of my patientshave ever complained.

他說：“我們在治療病人時會非常小心謹慎。在技術上我們和那些高級診所沒有區別。我幹這一行已經40年了，我的病人從來沒有不滿。”

'I buy the teeth from reputable companies and so they’re the real thing.'

“這些假牙都來自信譽好的公司，所以貨真價實啊。”

Thereis no official ban on roadside dental clinics in India but the Indian MedicalAssociation, an elite body of qualified medical practitioners, have beendemanding a law on street practice for many years.

印度政府並沒有對街頭牙醫進行取締，但是印度醫療協會（一個由合格醫生組成的精英團體）多年來都要求立法對街頭牙醫進行管理。

Butfor customers like Sushant Singh, 48, a labourer, the hospitals and privatedental clinics are too costly.

但對於48歲的工人Sushant Singh來說，醫院和私人診所都太貴了。

Hesaid: ‘I earn 125 rupees a day and can just about afford to pay 150 Rs forfixing my tooth. The government hospitals do not have dentists and privateclinics charge exorbitant fees. If there’s no street dentist where will a poorman like me go?’ he asks.

他說：“我每天的工資是125盧比，我只能花費150盧比解決牙齒問題。公立醫院裏沒有牙醫，而私人診所的費用又太高。如果沒有街頭牙醫，像我們這樣的窮人要怎麼辦？”他問道。