Interview: "Periobasics will help students and clinicians understand the subject better."

Dental Tribune, India : Nitin Saroch, tell us about your website www.periobasics.com

Dr.Nitin Saroch : After I completed my post-graduation, I wanted to share whatever little knowledge I had with the students of periodontics. However, there was no medium through which I could do so.Well, after a few days I thought why not put this information on the internet, because it  has a wider reach. This idea was the basis of launching my website www.periobasics.com.This website is completely dedicated to Periodontics and Implantology. With more than 15,000 members from all over the world, this website is helping students, academicians and clinicians to understand basic concepts in the field of Periodontics and Implantology.

What was your motivation behind this?

The internal desire to spread knowledge is in my nature. I am an academician, so I interact with students daily and try to understand their problems and confusions. With this background, I started working on my website. It took me almost one year to make the basic framework of the website. I was working on my own with support from my family and friends. Students from all over the world started reading my site content and started sending me messages. This was a great motivation for me to keep working on my project. I kept on working and uploading the content on my website. Soon, the number of registered members of my website crossed 1000. Presently, there are so many students associated with me through this website.

How did your text book “Periobasics” happen?

While I was working on my website, many students around the world requested me to provide hard copy of the content of the website. I personally feel that reading a book is more satisfying than reading from a computer/mobile screen.Hence, I decided that I will convert the contents of my website into a text book. Subsequently, in 2017, the book was released. This book is exclusively available on my website www.periobasics.com. The data presented in this book has been gathered from more than 10,000 reference articles to make it a highly authentic book. The scientific information present in the book shall be further refined in upcoming editions of the book.

How different is your book from other books on the subject?

This book is different from other books in the market because of a very important reason - simplicity. I believe writing is an art and everyone can't become a writer. Specifically, in fields which are based on scientific ground. This book is very simple to read and understand. Difficult concepts have been explained in a way that everyone can understand them. A specific feature that is present in this book and not present in any other book is video lectures. I have a YouTube channel with the name of Periobasics. All the chapters in the book carry a quick response code that takes the readers to this channel. After reading the chapter, one can watch the video lecture on YouTube. This feature has been explored for the first time. We are in the process of making video lectures and soon they will be available on this YouTube channel. As the book is distributed by myself, the reader can directly contact me for any clarification. In this way I am connected with almost everyone who is reading this book.

Students today prefer to read online and collect information. Do you believe that online learning will soon replace text books?

Reading an interesting book is like watching a nice movie. It makes a very strong impact on mind and brain. I don't think that online learning will ever be able to replace books. This is because, reading from a book is a very satisfying experience as compared to reading from a laptop. The ability to retain information obtained from a book is also much more than that from a computer screen. However, by saying so I don't mean that we should not use internet. Internet definitely has an advantage of being accessible anytime anywhere. So, it is necessary to strike a balance between them.

What is your message to young Periodontists?

My message to all the young periodontists is that we are in the branch of dentistry that has a wide horizon. If we understand basic concepts, we can treat our patients in a better way. With a lot of research going on in our field, new treatment strategies are emerging. We should keep working hard on these strategies so that we can deliver the best possible results to our patients. Lastly, my best wishes to everyone reading this article. I hope that we will move ahead together and see new innovations in the field of Periodontology and Implantology in future.

 

Thank you for the interview.