New Delhi: The Center has replaced the Dental Council of India (DCI) with a new regulatory body, the National Dental Council (NDC), in a major change that will impact patients and dental students. The new system came into effect on March 19 and the old Dental Act was repealed. The move is aimed at improving the quality of dental education, bringing more stringent inspections of universities and ensuring people have access to better, more affordable dental care.The government has also changed the way the system works. The NDC will operate through three separate committees rather than a single body – one to oversee dental education, one to inspect and rate universities and another to deal with ethics and registration issues for dentists. Officials say this will make supervision more focused and accountable.Dr. Sanjay Tewari has been appointed as the Chairman of the new committee. The center has also appointed experts to lead three committees.For the public, the biggest impact is expected to be on the quality and availability of dental care. The new committee will set clearer standards for how dentists are trained and how institutions are run. It will also work to improve access to basic dental services, an area where gaps have been widely reported.Students may see dental schools come under tighter oversight. Institutions will be evaluated and rated and the committee will frame guidelines to regulate fees in private universities. This is expected to bring more transparency and reduce drastic changes in costs. The committee will also examine the supply of dentists across the country and promote research to address dentist shortages and improve services.The National Dental Council replaces a decades-old system that had been criticized for transparency and delays in reform. With the new group established, the government aims to create a more streamlined and accountable framework to improve dental education and patient care.